Magic Johnson was one among several voices around the league that had pegged the Boston Celtics to win Game 5 at home and close out their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. But Joel Embiid and the 76ers proved them wrong with a solid 113-97 win tonight in Game 5 at Boston’s TD Garden.
After the game ended, the Lakers’ legend Magic Johnson admitted that he needed to apologize to the 76ers for counting them out of the series, following their abysmal Game 4 loss in Philadelphia. Johnson took to social media and penned down his emotions in a post.
“I have to apologize to the Philadelphia 76ers for thinking the Series was over after Game 4. Tonight, the 76ers beat the Celtics and were led by the dominant inside play of Joel Embiid – he had 33 points and eight assists! He had plenty of help from Tyrese Maxey’s 25 points, Paul George’s 16 points, and Quentin Grimes’ 18 points off the bench, which included four threes!” wrote Johnson on X.
“Grimes also played solid on the defensive end, which helped the 76ers beat the Celtics 113-97! My hat goes off to 76ers Coach Nick Nurse, who had an awesome game plan and had his team believing that they could beat the Celtics on the road in Boston.”
After the Celtics’ win in Game 4, Johnson praised them heavily on X and has now admitted that he was wrong to think they would close out the series in five games.
“I just witnessed the best all-around team performance in the NBA Playoffs so far by the Boston Celtics in their victory over the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96! Their defense was amazing, and offensively, they made a total of 24 threes!” said Johnson following Game 4.
“The Celtics big three were fantastic – Tatum had 30 points, Brown had 20 points, and Pritchard was the man who had the crowd going crazy with his dynamic 32 points off the bench! Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla has his team playing their best basketball at the right time.”
But one cannot blame Johnson for feeling this way, as even Tyrese Maxey admitted following tonight’s win that the 76ers had a terrible performance in Game 4. But he also hinted at how it helped him channelize his energy tonight into forcing a win for Philadelphia.
“Our fans deserve a win at home. We lost a tough one, and then we got blown out of the water,” said Maxey. “After the performance that we put on last time in front of our fans, that was a disgrace, and it was unacceptable. I plan on making sure that my teammates go out there and we fight, and we scratch, and we claw, and we get a W.”
The 76ers were down by as many as 13 points tonight in the first half itself, and it looked like Johnson would’ve been right. The Celtics had the lead until the end of the third quarter before they eventually went cold on offense (missing 16 consecutive shot attempts in the final 7:03 of the game).
By the end of the night, the 76ers had more field goals, free throws made, and three-point shot attempts than the Celtics, which is truly shocking since the Celtics rely on three-point shot making the most in the NBA.
Joel Embiid (33 points, eight assists, and four rebounds, 12-23 FG, 52.2 FG%) and Tyrese Maxey (25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, 10-18 FG, 55.6 FG%) carried the offensive load for the 76ers tonight.
The series is now 3-2 in favor of the Celtics still but this dominant performance tonight gives the 76ers some hope to stay alive in the playoffs as they head home for Game 6 on Thursday.
Do you think the 76ers can bounce back and force a Game 7 in this series? Or will the Celtics repeat their domination on the road in Philadelphia? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
