Celtics' Pritchard scores 32, leads 3-1

Payton Pritchard scored 32 points Sunday night, and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead. (espn.com) (nba.com) Pritchard made six 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 assists, and Jaylen Brown added 20 points for Boston in Philadelphia. (espn.com) (nba.com) Boston also outrebounded Philadelphia 51-30 and built a 21-point first-half lead behind a 14-rebound edge and a 13-0 advantage in second-chance points. (espn.com) Joel Embiid returned for the 76ers after an appendectomy on April 9 and scored 26 points in 34 minutes, his first game since April 6. (espn.com) Philadelphia got 22 points from Tyrese Maxey, but Maxey took only three shots in the first half as the 76ers tried to re-center the offense around Embiid’s return. (espn.com) The result put Boston one win from the Eastern Conference first-round series, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, in Boston. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The Celtics have now won two games in the series by 32 points, after opening with a 123-91 victory in Game 1 and following with a 108-100 win in Game 3. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) For Philadelphia, Embiid’s return changed the lineup but not the series math: the 76ers now need three straight wins to advance. (nba.com)