PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Payton Pritchard made six of Boston’s 24 3-pointers and scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 assists to help the Boston Celtics spoil Joel Embiid’s return from an appendectomy and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Boston.
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Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Payton Pritchard, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Dominick Barlow during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Drummond, right, reacts past Boston Celtics' Neemias Queta after an injury during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Sam Hauser, from left, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic react during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
“It's going to have to be a big pick-up mentally,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics, who thumped the Sixers by 32 points for the second time in the series. The Celtics outrebounded the Sixers 51-30.
Embiid scored 26 points in 34 minutes just 17 days after having an appendectomy. Embiid wasted little time scoring in his first game since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points.
Embiid withered after the fast start and missed seven straight shots before he converted a three-point play in the third quarter. That cut the Sixers' deficit to 23.
The Celtics hardly needed much production from Brown or Tatum — they combined for 50 points in a Game 3 win and only 13 in the first half of Game 4 — and used a whopping 14-rebound edge in the first half that sparked a 13-0 shutout in second-chance points to build a 21-point lead.
All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey took a backseat to Embiid and took only three shots in the first half. He scored 22 points for the Sixers.
“That can't happen," Maxey said of the slow start. “That's on me. That's just unacceptable by me. I was playing within the flow of the game. It kind of happened that way. It wasn't meant to happen that way.”
Maxey and the Sixers largely tried to get Embiid rolling early.
Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on April 9 after Philadelphia’s star big man was stricken with appendicitis overnight. He returned to the court Sunday wearing a protective brace around his midsection and was cleared to play about 40 minutes before the scheduled tipoff.
“What am I going to do? Cry about it?” Embiid said of his latest postseason malady.
Whatever emotional lift he provided lasted only minutes into the first quarter.
Pritchard buried a long 3 on one leg to end the first quarter and give Boston a 34-18 lead.
“He’s just a guy that finds the game. He dictates the pace for us,” Celtics coach Joe Mazulla said. "He did a good job of that for himself and others tonight. When we’re at our best, he’s aggressive.”
Embiid shot 3 of 5 in the first quarter while the rest of the Sixers missed 10 of 13 shots.
There were some questions about how Tatum’s return in early March from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in the playoffs last May would affect the flow of a group that had learned to adjust and thrive without the six-time All-Star.
Instead, Tatum has reacclimated himself in short order and the Celtics are dominating like a team that feels as though the East will go through Boston.
Embiid's gutsy return mattered little, and now the Celtics can clinch the series at home and wait for the winner of the Atlanta Hawks-New York Knicks series.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Payton Pritchard, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Dominick Barlow during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Drummond, right, reacts past Boston Celtics' Neemias Queta after an injury during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Sam Hauser, from left, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic react during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Poehling scored 2:29 into overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks pushed Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers to the brink of first-round elimination with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night.
Jeffrey Viel tied it with 6:29 left in regulation for the Ducks, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit and another third-period hole before taking a 3-1 series lead with their third consecutive victory over the back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers.
The Ducks completed their NHL-best 10th multi-goal comeback of the season when Poehling’s sharp-angled shot hit an Edmonton skate in front and reluctantly trickled under goalie Tristan Jarry, who had played well in his first playoff start for his new team. Poehling celebrated immediately, even though he wasn't totally sure the game was over.
“I thought I saw some white (between the puck and the goal line) when I was behind the net,” Poehling said. “Then everyone was celebrating. Did it go in? I'm like, ‘I think so?’ But yeah, I thought so right away."
An extensive video review revealed no reason to overturn the judgment on the ice that the puck had barely crossed the goal line underneath Jarry’s skate. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch was unconvinced.
“I can’t see it going in,” Knoblauch said. “I can’t see the line. ... The (initial) goal call on the ice was probably about 60 to 90 seconds after (the shot), maybe even more. They huddled when they got to center ice and then they made the (initial) call that it was a good goal. I don’t know. Wasn’t very definitive.”
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.
Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund scored power-play goals in the second period for the Ducks, who have scored 20 goals in four games to begin their team's first Stanley Cup playoff series in eight years. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots and made a pair of spectacular saves on McDavid in the final minutes.
“We're just playing so connected right now, and we're doing a good job of doing the right things,” said Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who leads the NHL in postseason scoring with eight points after recording two assists in Game 4. “We're all just feeling great, and I think we're all competing to the best of our ability, and it's just paying off right now.”
Evan Bouchard scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Jarry made 34 saves for the Oilers. Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored first-period goals.
Edmonton nearly won it late in regulation, but Dostal made a sprawling pad save to deny McDavid on a late breakaway — and Dostal added another big stuff of McDavid in the final minute. The Oilers’ superstar center, who is suspected to be dealing with an injury, had two assists in Game 4.
Jarry struggled for Edmonton right after arriving in a midseason trade with Pittsburgh, losing his job to Connor Ingram. But with the Oilers struggling mightily to stop the fast, exciting Ducks, Knoblauch made the switch and got a solid effort from Jarry, who hadn’t played since April 8.
The Oilers also improved their defensive structure after a shambolic Game 3 – and yet the energetic, hungry Ducks still pumped in four more goals despite never leading.
Kapanen silenced the raucous sellout crowd at Honda Center 38 seconds after the opening faceoff with his fourth goal in four games. Nugent-Hopkins then scored just Edmonton’s second power-play goal of the series.
The Ducks began yet another comeback with vicious wrist shot from Gauthier, their 22-year-old top scorer. Anaheim’s once-awful power play has scored in eight consecutive games.
Granlund and Leo Carlsson then teamed up for a fluid give-and-go to tie it.
Bouchard ripped a wrist shot for a tiebreaking goal just 4 seconds into an Oilers power play, but the Ducks’ fourth line tied it again, with Viel punching home a rebound of John Carlson’s shot for his second career playoff goal.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Anaheim Ducks players celebrate the overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Edmonton Oilers center Josh Samanski, left, hits Anaheim Ducks left wing Chris Kreider during the second period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Anaheim Ducks left wing Chris Kreider, top center, reacts on the game-winning, overtime goal by center Ryan Poehling, not shown, in Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl celebrates a goal by center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the bench during the first period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Anaheim Ducks players celebrate a goal by left wing Cutter Gauthier (61) during the second period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, right, shoots as Anaheim Ducks defenseman John Carlson, left, defends during the second period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Anaheim Ducks center Tim Washe, top, reacts on goal by left wing Jeffrey Viel during the third period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Anaheim Ducks players celebrate a goal by left wing Jeffrey Viel during the third period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
