76ers even series
- Philadelphia evened its first-round matchup with Boston after a 111-97 victory. - The 76ers won by 14 points to tie the series at 1-1. - The result forces a reset in the East and raises stakes for the upcoming road game in Boston (x.com).
Philadelphia answered Boston’s Game 1 rout with a 111-97 win on April 21, knotting the Eastern Conference first-round series at one game apiece. (nba.com) VJ Edgecombe scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey added 29 points with nine assists for the 76ers at TD Garden. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 36 points in the loss. (espn.com) Philadelphia flipped the matchup with 19 made 3-pointers and a 50-42 rebounding edge after losing Game 1 by 32 points, 123-91, on April 19. The 76ers shot 38% from deep in Game 2, while Boston shot 26%. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) The split sends the series to Philadelphia with home-court advantage gone after two games in Boston. The Celtics finished the regular season 56-26, while the 76ers entered the playoffs at 45-37 as the East’s No. 7 seed. (nba.com) (espn.com) That reset matters in a bracket where Boston opened as the higher seed and looked in control 48 hours earlier. Instead, the first-round matchup is now a best-of-five with Game 3 scheduled for April 24 in Philadelphia. (nba.com) (espn.com) The swing started after Boston’s fast opening faded. The Celtics led 28-25 after one quarter, then were outscored 37-26 in the second and 27-20 in the fourth. (espn.com) Philadelphia did it without Joel Embiid, who was listed inactive for Game 2. Kelly Oubre Jr. started and the 76ers’ backcourt carried the scoring load instead. (nba.com) (espn.com) Boston still has two more games in Philadelphia to reclaim control, but the series no longer looks like a short one. After one blowout each, Game 3 will decide which result was the outlier. (nba.com) (espn.com)
