The Philadelphia 76ers are suddenly sweating profusely. After going up 3-0 in their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors, Pascal Siakam and Co. have responded with two straight wins, forcing a crucial Game 6 on Wednesday up North. The Sixers have looked poor across the last two contests, with their defense really taking a step back and Joel Embiid is taking part of the blame.

After Monday's loss, the big man admitted he was awful defensively in Game 5.

Via Derek Bodner:

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Embiid only had 20 points and 11 rebounds on the night and the Sixers' interior defense was rather poor, getting outscored a whopping 56-36 in the paint. Toronto imposed their will on Philly, despite being without star Fred VanVleet.

It's also clear that Embiid is dealing with notable pain in his thumb. In certain plays, you can tell the big man is limited in certain movements due to his ailment. Nevertheless, he plans to play through the injury and hopefully lead the Sixers to the promised land. But, that will only happen if Philadelphia can play the stout defense they did earlier in the series. The Raps had far too many easy baskets in Game 5, consistently picking apart their opponents.

Toronto isn't going down without a fight. Joel Embiid needs to take the bull by the horns and win this first-round matchup for the Sixers. Knowing the type of player he is, there's no doubt the MVP finalist with respond in a big way.