Joel Embiid scored 33 points and added eight assists as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers stayed alive in the series with a 113-97 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup.

Embiid, who missed the first three games following an appendectomy, briefly exited in the third quarter after appearing to suffer a knee injury with 4:35 remaining. He returned to the floor with two minutes left in the period and finished strong down the stretch.

“Obviously he was very, very good,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “Give him credit. He worked really hard to get back through the procedure that he had. He played a lot of minutes. I was super impressed with him on the defensive end tonight.”

Tyrese Maxey contributed 25 points and 10 rebounds for the seventh-seeded 76ers, who entered the fourth quarter trailing by one but closed the game with a dominant 28-11 run over the final 12 minutes. Paul George added 16 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists as Philadelphia cut Boston’s series lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven matchup.

For the second-seeded Celtics, Jayson Tatum finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown scored 22 points. Neemias Queta added eight points and 14 rebounds. Boston shot 36-for-89 from the field and struggled badly in the fourth quarter.

“I mean, it’s disappointing,” Celtics guard Payton Pritchard said. “Every game you lose in the playoffs is disappointing. But the playoffs take on a life of their own. You never know when you’re going to get it done, so you’ve got to move on and get ready for Game 6. We don’t have time to dwell on it.”

Boston briefly took control early, moving ahead 16-15 on a Brown layup with 2:59 left in the first quarter and holding a 23-21 lead after one. The Celtics extended their advantage to 42-31 on a Tatum three-pointer, but Philadelphia responded to close the gap, trimming the deficit to 50-48 on a Maxey three-pointer with 2:10 left in the half. Boston closed the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 57-50 halftime lead.

The Celtics pushed their lead to 13 early in the third quarter at 63-50, but Philadelphia battled back once again. A VJ Edgecombe three-pointer brought the 76ers within one at 66-65 with 6:37 remaining in the period. Boston still led 86-85 heading into the fourth.

Philadelphia seized control in the final quarter. A Paul George three-pointer gave the 76ers an 88-86 lead early in the frame, and Edgecombe later drilled another three to extend the margin to 109-94 with 2:25 remaining.

Boston collapsed offensively in the fourth, shooting just 3-for-22 from the field.

“Just missed some shots,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought we got some good looks. We just weren’t able to capitalize on them.”

Nurse credited his team’s defensive effort in the closing stretch.

“We were able to execute what we wanted defensively,” Nurse said. “We weren’t blowing assignments and we guarded hard. Everybody did a good job on their man. We knew we needed to be better on that end.”

The series now shifts back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Thursday, with the Celtics still holding a 3-2 lead. -Field Level Media/Reuters