The key to success for the Sixers is simple: When Philadelphia gets significant contributions from someone other than MVP Joel Embiid, victories are a lot easier to come by. It seems obvious, but it hasn’t been that simple during this series with the Celtics. The Sixers have gone as James Harden has gone, and after Harden and Tyrese Maxey stepped up to complement Embiid last night, Philadelphia has a 3–2 series lead over Boston.

The Sixers won last night’s game, 115–103, behind 33 points from Embiid and 30 from Maxey. Harden had 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Tobias Harris had an efficient 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, plus 11 rebounds. Danuel House Jr., who’s barely played this postseason, had 10 points and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench. Everything went as well as they could hope for.

The Celtics haven’t been immune to the same sorts of inconsistencies that have plagued Philly. Boston fans are fully aware of that, which is why they booed the Celtics lustily at points during last night’s loss.

The biggest issue for the Celtics was their poor shooting, particularly from outside. They shot 39.8% from the field and 31.6% from three. Al Horford scored zero points after missing all seven shots he took, all from behind the arc.

When the Sixers are playing like they did last night, it’s easy to convince yourself that they look like the best team remaining in the playoffs. But the same can be said of the Celtics at times, especially when they’re playing smothering defense like they did in Games 2 and 3. Which version of each team will show up tomorrow night in Game 6?

Give it up for Bruce Brown

There have been plenty of unexpected heroes in this year’s playoffs, from the Lakers’ Lonnie Walker IV to the Sixers’ Danuel House Jr. Now you can add Bruce Brown to that list.

The Nuggets prevailed in their pivotal Game 5 against the Suns last night, 118–102, thanks in large part to Brown, who had 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The star was still Nikola Jokić, who had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists to pass Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple doubles by a center in NBA playoff history, but the story was Brown. It was just his fifth 20-point game of the season and it helped push the Suns to the brink of elimination.

The Suns will need to win Game 6 at home tomorrow night to keep their season alive. They’ll have a better chance of doing so if Chris Paul is able to return from the groin injury that has kept him out for the past three games. Asked whether he’ll be available for the game, Paul said, “We’ll see.”

The Suns took a big chance in trading for Kevin Durant in February. The move made them instant title contenders, but the depth they traded away and Durant’s ankle injury that limited him to eight regular-season games in a Phoenix uniform kept the Suns from building much chemistry before the playoffs. Then Paul’s injury sidelined another top player at a key juncture. They’re not done yet, but the Suns’ gamble seems unlikely to pay off.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Today’s Daily Cover story from Chris Herring looks back at the Knicks’ “seemingly endless” title drought.
Tom Verducci reports that a whole bunch of MLB teams are jockeying to take part in the league’s first games in Paris in 2025.
Matt Verderame is tracking the NFL’s schedule release leaks ahead of tomorrow’s full unveiling.
These non-first-round picks will dominate the NFL in 2023, according to Gilberto Manzano.
The Commanders allegedly called Andrew Luck to see if he’d unretire, a notion that Conor Orr has tabbed as “the funniest NFL story of the year.”
Aaron Judge returned to the Yankees’ lineup last night, a much-needed addition for the team currently at the bottom of the AL East, Stephanie Apstein writes.
After a 1–1 tie in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, Jonathan Wilson writes that Man City and Real Madrid have set up what should be an epic second leg next week. A.C. Milan and Inter begin their semifinal this afternoon.
Michael Rosenberg writes that Bob Huggins should resign from West Virginia following his use of an anti-LGBTQ slur on a Cincinnati radio show.
Jake Paul’s bout against Nate Diaz is putting his boxing career on the line, Chris Mannix writes.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Bobby Witt Jr.’s strong throw from deep in the hole.

4. The Hurricanes’ three goals in under four minutes as they beat up on the Devils to take a 3–1 series lead.

3. Joel Embiid’s block on Jaylen Brown.

2. Jorge Soler’s 468-foot home run.

1. Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz’s 456-foot and 428-foot home runs. He also had a double that left the bat at 118.8 mph, giving him three batted balls with an exit velocity over 116 mph on the night. Since the introduction of Statcast in 2015, no team has had three balls hit that hard in one game, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs.

SIQ

On this day in 1939, Philadelphia’s Newspaper Guild raised money for charity by organizing what kind of stunt involving Phillies players?

A player attempting to catch a ball dropped from a great height
A player racing a horse
A player attempting to throw a ball across the Schuylkill River
A pitch velocity test using the University of Pennsylvania’s radar gun prototype

Yesterday’ SIQ: On May 9, 1984, umpire Joe West ejected two people from a game between the Mets and Braves who were employed in what nonuniformed role?

Grounds crew member
Concessions vendor
Camera operator
Official scorer

Answer: Camera operator. In the fourth inning of that night’s game, Mets third baseman Hubie Brooks was involved in a play at the plate as he attempted to score on a single by pitcher Ron Darling. The throw from Atlanta center fielder Dale Murphy arrived at home just as Brooks did. After a moment’s hesitation, West called Brooks out.

New York manager Davey Johnson and third base coach Bobby Valentine began to argue with West. When they returned to the dugout, the camera operators stationed nearby showed them the replay on their monitors, so West ejected them. According to Johnson, though, West told him he was sure the replay would show that he made the right call.

“You never win those arguments, but you go out there to try to get the guy to at least say, ‘I blew the call,’” Johnson said. “He gives me that, I go away. But West said to me, ‘Check the replay.’ So I did.”

It might sound like a classic overreaction by the notoriously cantankerous Joe West to eject a couple of people who weren’t even in uniform, but he was well within his rights to do it. Even today, MLB places strict limits on how replays can be shown during games, and the rule book grants umpires broad latitude to deal with all aspects of the game.

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