Big man’s back | Sports Daily Newsletter

What a weekend for Sports Daily readers. Howie Roseman had Eagles fans buzzing after another big deal at the NFL draft. The Flyers fell short of eliminating the Penguins but get another chance tonight. Track and field followers got their fill of thrills at the Penn Relays, and the Phillies ... well, they haven’t thrilled folks this season much at all. But rumors are swirling regarding their manager.

More on all of those developments in a moment. We lead off with the Sixers, who got a giant boost Sunday night when Joel Embiid returned to the lineup.

Embiid did all he could in his return 17 days after an appendectomy, but it was not nearly enough. The Boston Celtics torched the Sixers, 128-96, in Game 4 at Xfinity Mobile Arena, pushing them to the brink of elimination. The Celtics racked up 24 three-pointers and Payton Prichard sank six of them on the way to 32 points.

Maybe the Sixers’ young players deferred to their elders too much. Embiid and Paul George combined to take 34 shots on Sunday. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined to take 23. That was part of the problem, David Murphy writes.

More coverage from Game 4 and its aftermath can be found here.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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Of course, Howie Roseman could not let an NFL draft pass without another eye-popping deal. The Eagles acquired veteran outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard from the Minnesota Vikings for a pair of third-round picks, then signed him to a four-year, $100 million contract. Jeff McLane reports on the huge impact of this deal.

The Eagles took Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers with their second-round pick and a former Birds receiver, Jordan Matthews, applauded the move. Now an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, Matthews knows Stowers well.

“He showed up in big games,” Matthews said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, hey, he’s disappearing whenever we played hard competition.’ When the games got tougher, we went to Eli, and he constantly showed up. So he’s got a track record of being clutch.”

The Eagles drafted a guy who has no track record at all, by the way. With one of their seventh-round picks, they selected Uar Bernard, a Nigerian defensive line prospect who has never played football. He’s a product of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program.

In all, the Birds reeled in eight picks in the NFL draft. Here is our in-depth analysis on their selections from Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

Now we look ahead: What are the team’s biggest questions coming out of the draft? Olivia Reiner, Jeff Neiburg, and Ryan Novozinsky assess the state of the team.

The Flyers will try again to finish off the Penguins at 7 tonight in Game 5 of their first-round series (ESPN, NBCSP). Jackie Spiegel reminds Flyers fans this is no time to push the panic button, even after Pittsburgh bounced back for a victory Saturday, when Dan Vladař was not great.

For starters, Pittsburgh broke out a new goalie in Artūrs Šilovs in Game 4, but the Flyers caught up to him by game’s end, scoring twice. Also, Rick Tocchet’s team has rarely lost two games in a row lately. The Flyers have outscored the Penguins, 8-2, at full strength in the series, so it is important to stay out of the penalty box. Here are Jackie’s keys to the game in Pittsburgh.

Might the scuffling Matvei Michkov be a healthy scratch for the Flyers? Based on Sunday’s practice, it sure looks possible.

Rob Thomson is aware of the rumbles. The Phillies have lost 15 of their last 18 games and are dead last in the NL East. The Red Sox just fired manager Alex Cora, who is close to Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations. Maybe a managerial change is in the works ...

“I don’t have time to think about it,” Thomson said Sunday after another loss. “I’m a person that thinks about other people and what can I do to help them. And it’s out of my control. So, that’s where I’m at.”

The Phillies suffered 10 straight losses before they finally beat the Braves on Saturday. They sank back into their losing ways against Atlanta lefty Chris Sale, managing only two hits overall in a 6-2 defeat. Aaron Nola gave up six earned runs as his ERA rose to 6.03.

How did Porter Martone develop the shot that made him a phenom during these NHL playoffs? Martone’s father says the 19-year-old Flyer took a toll on the family’s house in Peterborough, Ontario, whacking shots off the basement walls. There also was a makeshift goalie named Jeff guarding a goal in the backyard, “an old lawn chair with plywood, some old pads, and an old mask,” where Martone honed his game. Now he is a surprising force for the Flyers. Matt Breen tells the story.

April 27, 2003: Kevin Millwood pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies, mowing down the San Francisco Giants in a 1-0 victory at Veterans Stadium. Millwood walked three and struck out 10.

There’s a lesson here for the Flyers, if they care to learn it.

Their 4-2 loss Saturday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference first-round series against the Penguins is not a cause for panic. Not yet. And it doesn’t have to be at all. They are still ahead three games to one. It will still take Sidney Crosby & Co. fashioning a minor moment of NHL history for the Penguins to win this series.

Again, calm is the appropriate word here. More from Mike Sielski.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from David Murphy, DeAntae Prince, Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, Jeff Neiburg, Ryan Novozinski, Matt Breen, Mike Sielski, Jackie Spiegel, Gabriela Carroll, Scott Lauber, Owen Hewitt, Conor Smith, and Jonathan Tannenwald.

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Thank you for reading. I’ll see you in Tuesday’s Sports Daily. — Jim