PHILADELPHIA — Pascal Siakam scored 23 points, Precious Achiuwa had 17 and the Toronto Raptors forced a return home for Game 6 in their Eastern Conference first-round series against Philadelphia, beating the 76ers 103-88 on Monday night.
Yo, Canada! Once holding a 3-0 series lead, the 76ers are headed back north.
The Raptors have won two straight in the series and jumped all over injured Sixers center Joel Embiid and ineffective James Harden to make Thursday night's game a necessity.
Embiid had 20 points and 11 rebounds playing with a thumb injury. Harden scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is dragging the weight of ignominious NBA history with him through customs. Rivers, who led Boston to the 2008 championship, is the only coach in NBA history to blow three 3-1 series leads. The Magic lost to Detroit in the 2003 Eastern Conference first round; the 2015 Clippers blew the series to Houston in the Western Conference semifinals; and in 2020, the Clippers lost to Denver in the West semifinals.
The next season, Rivers was in Philly -- and the Sixers lost three games at home as the No. 1 seed and were eliminated in the second round.
The nerves in Philly are suddenly as tight as the rims.
The Sixers had a miserable first half. They finished with 10 turnovers and shot 35% from the floor. Philly's last bucket in the first quarter was one for the blooper reel: Matisse Thybulle’s missed shot bounced off the rim and was accidentally tipped in by Achiuwa.
Whoops.
Maybe it sparked something for the Raptors. They opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to take control all while the Sixers missed their first nine shots. The Sixers didn’t score until 6:51 was left in the half. Scottie Barnes scored eight points in the quarter and the Raptors took a 54-41 lead at the break.
The 76ers were booed off the court, their play a bleak reminder of some recent postseason flameouts.
“We’ve generated really good shots most of the series,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said before the game. “We haven’t shot very well yet. I told the guys today, today would be a good day to go ahead and start making some of those open shots.”
The Raptors listened, hovering around 50% for most of the game. They also controlled the boards and scored 20 points off turnovers.
Harden could have used the shooting tip.
Harden played the same night the All-Star he was traded for, Ben Simmons, was inactive for Brooklyn. Harden was barely more visible and missed 6 of 8 shots through three quarters, scoring nine points.
Embiid continued to play with a ligament tear in his right thumb. He looked gassed at times in the third quarter as the Raptors kept attacking the MVP finalist for tough buckets, notably Achiuwa’s driving layup that made it 73-60.
TIP-INS
Raptors: All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet sat out with a left hip flexor strain. VanVleet said he was hurt in Game 4 and was unsure if he could play in Game 6.
76ers: Embiid was fined $15,000 for criticizing the officiating in Game 4. ... John Calipari, who coached 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey at Kentucky, was at the game.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Embiid will have to wait until after the season for thumb surgery.
“There’s no treatment. There really isn’t,” Rivers said. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s not going to get any worse. There’s really no ice, there’s no treatment for that until after the season.”
UP NEXT
The Sixers will play Game 6 without Thybulle. Thybulle, who sat out Games 3 and 4, is barred from entering Canada because he is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
