Nick Nurse describes how Sixers have to play in Game 5 vs. Celtics

BOSTON -- It's win or go home for the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night when they take on the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of their Round 1 series. They trail the Celtics 3-1 in this series and are looking to get the job done on the road to force another game back in Philadelphia on Thursday.

The Sixers have suffered two 32-point blowouts in this series--including Game 4 on Sunday at home--but there have been two solid performances as well. The Sixers bounced back in Game 2 following the first 32-point blowout to win and then fought to the end in a tough Game 3 loss.

Coach Nick Nurse and Co. know what's at stake heading into this contest and he knows they have to play at a certain level in order to beat this Celtics team.

"Well, I mean, we gotta play a lot better, right?" Nurse said pregame. "In many facets of the game. We got outplayed and outrebounded. We got out shot. We just gotta play a lot better. I think everybody’s pretty aware of that. There’s been four games in this series. We’ve played pretty poorly in two of them. We’ve played very well in two of them. We gotta play well to beat this team or have a chance to beat this team so that’s what it comes down to."

Led by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt, plus the presence of Joel Embiid and Paul George, they will have to show a lot of toughness and resolve to pull this one off. The Celtics have a tendency to drop games they shouldn't in playoff series so Philadelphia will have a shot, but it will have to play at a high level to get it done.

Tip off from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.