PHILADELPHIA — Pascal Siakam had 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 the 76ers hold a 3-0 lead in the series, they’ll head back north.
The Raptors have won back-to-back in the series, leaping 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 while playing with a thumb injury. Harden scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is lugging the weight of nefarious NBA history through customs. Rivers, who led Boston to the championship in 2008, is the only coach in NBA history to have forfeited three 3-1 leads. The Magic lost to Detroit in the first round of the 2003 Eastern Conference; 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 home games as the No. 1 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% off the floor. Philly’s final bucket in the first quarter was one for blooper roll: Matisse Thybulle’s miss bounced off the rim and was accidentally tapped by Achiuwa.
Oops.
Maybe it sparked something for the Raptors. They opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to take control while the Sixers missed their first nine shots. The Sixers didn’t score until 6:51 at halftime. Scottie Barnes scored eight points in the quarter and the Raptors led 54-41 at the break.
The 76ers were booed off the field, their game somberly reminiscent of some postseason flare-ups.
“We hit really good shots for 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 do some of those candid shots.
The Raptors listened and hovered around 50% for most of the game. They also controlled the boards and scored 20 points from turnovers.
Harden could have used the shooting tip.
Harden played the same night that the All-Star he was traded to, Ben Simmons, was inactive for Brooklyn. Harden was little more visible, missing 6 of 8 shots through three quarters and scoring nine points.
Embiid continued playing with a torn ligament in his right thumb. He looked gassed at times in the third quarter as the Raptors attacked the MVP finalist for hard buckets, particularly Achiuwa’s driving layup that made it 73-60.
TIP INS
Raptors: All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet sat out with a left hip flex load. VanVleet said he was injured in Game 4 and wasn’t sure if he could play in Game 6.
76ers: Embiid was fined $15,000 for criticizing the office in Game 4. … John Calipari, who coached 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey in Kentucky, was at the game.
TRAINING ROOM
Embiid will have to wait until after the season for thumb surgery.
“There is no treatment. There really isn’t,” Rivers said. “If I know one thing, it won’t get any worse. There really is no ice, no treatment for that until after the season.”
NEXT
The Sixers are playing Game 6 without Thybulle. Thybulle, who sat out Games 3 and 4, is barred from entering Canada as he is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
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