BSJ Game Report: Celtics at 76ers Game 6, 8:00 p.m. - Win at all costs

BOSTON CELTICS (3-2) at PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (2-3)

Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Game time: 8:00 p.m.

TV: Peacock, NBC Sports

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Celtics injury report:

• NO INJURIES TO REPORT

76ers injury report:

• Joel Embiid - PROBABLE (post appendectomy surgery recovery)

• Tyrese Maxey - AVAILABLE (right finger tendon strain - splint)

Preview: Game 5 couldn't have gone much worse for the Boston Celtics. After a strong first-half showing, they crumbled.

Joel Embiid went supernova, and the Celtics' offense completely collapsed in the fourth quarter, putting up just 11 points.

So, instead of finishing off the series at TD Garden, the Celtics had to travel all the way back across state lines to take on the Philadelphia 76ers on their home turf.

Boston is undefeated on the road this series, going a perfect 2-0 in their first two games in the City of Brotherly Love. But now, there are new stakes on the line.

A loss in Game 6 would force the Celtics back to Boston with their season on the line. But what's worse is that they would have absolutely zero momentum. All of it would belong to the 76ers.

Tale of the tape: Games 1 through 4 are a thing of the past. The blowouts Boston enjoyed in Games 1 and 3. The Sixers' red-hot shooting in Game 2. The Celtics' clutch victory in Game 3. All have been replaced by the disappointment of Game 5.

Boston's offense fell apart in the second half. It looked like a shell of itself.

Jaylen Brown had tunnel vision. Jayson Tatum seemed passive. Payton Pritchard looked iced out of the offense. Derrick White's cold spell continued.

All the while, Embiid returned to the prime version of himself, bullying Nikola Vucevic, who has played bulk minutes this series, largely because of Neemias Queta's foul trouble.

Game 5 keys: That first point is one of the most important. Boston cannot allow Embiid as many easy buckets as he got in the third quarter of Game 5.

Embiid scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the third, and in the fourth, he added eight more on 3-of-4 shooting.

Vucevic says that the Celtics, and he in particular, need to do a better job at making Embiid a bit more uncomfortable.

"He was just getting to his spot little too easy," Vucevic said at shootaround on Thursday afternoon. "So, just have to do a little better job trying to make the catch a little tougher for him. Make him catch the ball a little further away from the basket, and then, put up a little more resistance on the first, second dribble. 

"When he's getting to the paint, try harder on the first, second dribble [when he's getting] into the paint, [because] there's not a lot of help that can come happen so quick. So, that's something that we have to do better. He got a couple of me in that game, so I have to do a better job with that."

It's a similar story with the Celtics' offense. Well, the opposite, actually. 

The Sixers actually utilized their physicality in Game 5. 

"I think they did a good job of just making it tough and kind of pushing our catches out a little bit, and some shots, we just didn't make it," White said. "So, I think it kind of all starts with that physicality aspect, and you got to do a good job getting to the spots you want to get to."

Boston needs to play offense on its own terms. Allowing the Sixers' physicality to push them off their spots is what put them in a position to lose in Game 5.

"When we're catching the ball, making sure we hold our position and we get the ball where we want to get it," Vucevic said. "If you have to get lower, create some space to be able to catch the ball, for example, on elbow, you got to do that. And [in] pick-and-roll actions, making sure the ball-handler sets up himself well. And screener, we do a good job screening. So, a lot of it is teamwork. 

"But yeah, it's just trying to do your job, just like on the defensive end, try to do your job early to get guys out of position. Here, it's try to do your job early to get into your position. So, try to be the one who initiates contact, that creates the contact, so you can get to where you want to get. But yeah, I mean, they're known for playing very aggressive, and we have to be able to respond to that."

As for White's efficiency woes, in particular, he's trying not to let it affect the other areas of his game.

"There are a lot of different ways to impact the game and, obviously, winning. There are a lot of different ways to win," White said. "So, don't let one aspect give way to other ones. And obviously, it's a challenge, and shooting is probably what everybody thinks about and looks at first, but there's a lot of stuff that I do that's helped impact the game, and that's what I got to do."