Nick Nurse is proving to be a pretty good healer when he knows what weapons are at his disposal

In a season filled with injuries to his star player, a 25-game suspension to one of the team's core pieces and the need to rely heavily on a 20-year-old rookie, Sixers coach Nick Nurse has had to navigate a campaign that's surely resembled a ride on the world's largest roller-coaster.

It's led to a basketball season of unknowns, with a different lineup almost game-to-game against the opponent du jour. It led to 45 wins, a seventh seed in the playoffs and, now, a tug-of-war, best-of-seven series with the Boston Celtics, who are probably the best team in the conference.

Tuesday, Nurse's team shocked many by playing perhaps their best game of the series up in TD Garden, pinning a 113-97 loss on the Celtics and closing the series to 3-2 with Game 6 on Thursday at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The ups and downs of this team have never been more evident than in these five games. The opener was a 32-point drubbing by Boston, before the Sixers were able to answer the call with a 14-point win in Boston in Game 2. When the series returned to Philadelphia for a pair of games, there was a terrific battle that the Celtics pulled out in the end in Game 3, and then another 32-point blowout as the Sixers welcomed back Joel Embiid to the lineup just 17 days after his appendectomy.

And then came Tuesday. The surprise of all surprises, one would believe. But a deeper dive may lend a hint as to how the Sixers were able to do what they did. Maybe for the first time this season, Nurse really settled in on what he can do. Yes, the return of Embiid threw a (good) wrench into how the series began, but the adjustments were made.

Game 1 wasn't all that surprising. Nurse had to put out too many players that had never even experienced playoff basketball, including rookie VJ Edgecombe. Boston, just two years removed from an NBA title, simply smeared the inexperienced Sixers, outscoring them by 36 points from beyond the three-point line. After, Nurse and his staff consumed film like a blue whale devours krill. The main focuses were centered around stopping the Celtics from getting open three-pointers, on getting on the defensive boards, and on stopping easy transition baskets. 

Nurse and the staff guided backup centers Adem Bona and Andre Drummond on how to get out on shooters, and when to stay in the lane and rim protect. He encouraged more shooting and aggressiveness from Tyrese Maxey, Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes. They were designs that were drawn up without Embiid and it got them a win in the second game, and a phenomenal effort during an eight-point loss in Game 3.

When Embiid hit the floor on Sunday, the reaction of fans was, understandably, one of euphoria. And Embiid responded with 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. But the team seemed off, on both ends of the floor, as if they weren't used to play with one another. The result was another smattering, a 3-1 deficit in the series and the overwhelming thought the series was all but over.

But Nurse and his staff again did their mad scientist imitation, dissecting what went wrong in allowing the Celtics to drain 24 three-pointers while holding the Sixers to 41.2 percent shooting from the floor.

A solution was found and the evidence was on full display Tuesday. The Sixers did a tremendous job of not allowing the Celtics to get open threes by fighting through picks harder and switching, at times, almost to perfection. Their commitment to help on dribble drives to the Celtics was very good, though with the knowledge of not leaving anyone open behind the arc. They rebounded well enough, and suffocated Boston defensively to the tune of allowing just 40 points in the second half.

Embiid dominated with 33 points and eight assists. Nurse changed from the norm of having his center set high picks, usually for Maxey, and spend most of the game hovering around the top of the key. Instead, the 7-foot-2, 280-pounder posted up and drove through defenders. He beat defenders off the dribble. He drained mid-range jumpers all night. Because of that, the Celtics had no answer how to cover in other areas, as Maxey went for 25, Paul George 16, Grimes 12 and Edgecombe 10.

It appears Nurse is now in somewhat of a comfort zone, by both knowing who is available for him and what the opponent is presenting. There is a familiarity in what he can do with his team, on how he can counter what Boston does and then counter its counters. Two times in the series he didn't have the comfort of knowing what he had or what he was going against. Those were horrible results. The other three games of the series have been very good for his squad. Is it enough to force a Game 7, which would be on Saturday in Boston? We will see on Thursday.