SURVIVE: Sixers dominate Celtics, force Game 7 back in Boston

The Sixers are on the precipice of doing something they’ve never done, come back and win a playoff series after trailing three games to one. Against the Boston Celtics, no less.

After promising the home fans a win, Joel Embiid and company delivered Thursday night, running Boston off the Xfinity Mobile Arena court 106-93.

The entire game can be distilled down to this one sequence early in the third quarter.

I regret to inform the rest of the NBA, THE SIXERS ARE BACK

I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say PUT THIS SEQUENCE ON MY MF’ING GRAVE

LEEEEEETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/YuMWKWXbNW

— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) May 1, 2026

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From there, the Sixers finally looked like a team that remembered it was allowed to punch back.

After getting embarrassed twice in this series by 32 points, including one of those classic “why do we even do this to ourselves?” Sixers playoff nights, they came home and played their cleanest game of the season. Not perfect. Not pretty the whole way. But complete. Tough. Connected. ALIVE.

Tyrese Maxey was the engine, as usual. He dropped 30 points and kept putting pressure on Boston every time the Celtics looked like they might find their footing. Maxey has reached the point where none of this feels surprising anymore. Big spot, season on the line, Celtics across from him, and he still plays like he has jumper cables hooked to his sneakers.

But the real swing piece was Paul George.

This was the version of George the Sixers paid for. He finished with 23 points, hit five threes, and gave the offense a real second option when Joel Embiid needed breathers. For most of the season, George felt like the forgotten man. Injuries, suspension, weird rhythm, awkward fit, the whole thing. Then Game 6 shows up, and suddenly the guy looks like a real playoff veteran again.

“We’re still alive,” George said after the win.

That pretty much says it.

The moment that blew the roof off the building came in the third quarter, as seen above. Kelly Oubre Jr. erased Jaylen Brown at the rim, Maxey scooped it up, George pushed the break, then dropped a ridiculous behind-the-back pass to VJ Edgecombe for a monster dunk. Sixers up 69-54. Building going insane. Celtics looking like they just got hit with a folding chair.

That play felt like the whole series flipping in real time.

Edgecombe has been a shot of pure chaos for this team, in the best way possible. The Sixers needed energy. They needed someone who was not scared of the moment. They needed a young lunatic flying down the floor like he had no idea this franchise has decades of playoff trauma attached to it. Beautiful stuff.

And then there’s Embiid. He had 19 points, and considering he is still coming back from an appendectomy, you take that and run. The Sixers are still going to go as far as his body lets them go. That has always been the deal. But for one night, they didn’t need him to be Superman. They needed him to be present, steady, and dangerous enough to keep Boston honest.

He was.

The Celtics, meanwhile, were a mess. Jaylen Brown got into foul trouble early and never fully took over. Jayson Tatum had 17 and had to leave briefly in the third after an apparent calf issue. Boston also went more than four minutes without scoring to close the third, which is a pretty bad idea when the other team is trying to drag you into a Game 7.

Now the Sixers have done what no one believed they would, no even me. They were dead. Buried. Mocked. Down 3-1 after getting blown off the floor twice. And somehow, they are headed back to Boston with a chance to steal the whole thing.

Nick Nurse had the right message after the game. This win was great, but it does not matter anymore. Game 7 is its own monster.

Still, the Sixers gave themselves a chance. That is all anyone could ask for after where this series was headed.

Saturday in Boston. One game. Winner moves on.

Here we go again.