Before embarking on a holiday road trip, the Philadelphia 76ers (20-8) squared off against the Toronto Raptors (11-17). The Sixers got crucial games from Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey AND Tobias Harris and, despite a rough start, won by a final score of 121-111.
Let's break down the Sixers' win.
Sixers player notes:
Joel Embiid: 31 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 blocks, 11-21 FG shooting
Embiid took a hard fall and walked gingerly off the court midway through the first quarter. He didn't exit the game but was clearly less than 100 percent the rest of the way. He had just two points in the first quarter. What Embiid did well, though, was just about everything else. He ran the offense and set up his teammates while locking things down at the rim.
And then came a 17-point onslaught in the third quarter where he was getting bucket after bucket. He made a vow to not take plays off and, even without his best stuff, he did just that.
Tyrese Maxey: 33 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 13-21 FG shooting
Maxey was very solid in this game and painted the picture of the analytically ideal shot chart by taking shots solely at the rim or from deep. He really turned it on in the second half, setting the stage for Embiid to take back over the Sixers offense and getting plenty of shots to fall himself. Once again, he felt right at home in the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach for the dinosaurs.
Tobias Harris: 33 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 12-23 FG shooting
Harris was simply great to start this game, giving the Sixers a scoring boost that they didn’t get from Embiid early on. He was decisive with the ball, taking catch-and-shoot threes with no hesitation and going right to the hoop in the open floor. The burly forward had 24 points and was on his way to a triple-double at halftime.
In the second half, Harris secured a new-season high and went back to being a supplementary scorer. Even still, he finally gave his All-Star candidacy some legs.
Raptors player notes:
Scottie Barnes: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, 3-11 FG shooting
Barnes is putting together a very nice case for being a first-time All-Star. He showed his improvements as a shooter by draining contested threes and was tough on defense, making some impressive plays from the weak side. His shooting from the field was poor but it's clear he is becoming a very well-rounded, high-impact guy.
Pascal Siakam: 31 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 10-16 FG shooting
The other Cameroonian star was the one drawing all the fouls in this game, as Siakam got to the line very frequently by attacking the rim. Almost all of his field goals came right at the bucket. His shifty shoulder fakes and impressive dexterity made him tough to contain when he found the space to attack.
Game recap:
1st half
The Sixers and Raptors saw each other twice earlier in the season with Philly coming out victorious both times, including once after the big trade. Toronto's need to rebuild grows bigger by the day, though the front office's willingness to is probably closer to trending in the opposite direction. It would be shocking to think of the two teams agreeing on a trade that sends one of the Raps' veterans to Philly. In the meantime, while the trade market takes shape, the Sixers are working hard trying to keep up their winning ways.
Patrick Beverley and De'Anthony Melton were both ruled out for this one (along with Nicolas Batum and Mo Bamba) so the Sixers deployed a brand new, bigger starting lineup with Kelly Oubre Jr. at shooting guard and Marus Morris Sr. as the other forward. Philly started the game with Tobias Harris on Siakam, Morris on Barnes and Oubre on OG Anunoby.
The Sixers started the game as choppy as you would expect from a lineup that has barely played together. Embiid didn’t score at the high rate he usually does to start games, though he did assist Maxey on some of his early scores. The Raptors pushed the pace by igniting fast breaks and by Siakam leaking out early on defensive possessions. They went up 27-12 at one point, igniting some boos.
Danuel House Jr. and Furkan Korkmaz got bumped into the rotation for this game. Harris got off to a nice start by doing the things everyone wants him to: shoot catch-and-shoot threes and be decisive. He scored 11 points on 4-4 shooting in the first quarter to help the Sixers shake off their lethargic start.
As good as Harris was as he worked his way up to 18 points by the midway point of the second quarter, the Raptors' defense was tough to crack and they took advantage of the Sixers working their way deep into the shot clock with more leak-out scores. On some of the times they didn’t get all the way ahead, they were able to draw fouls.
Dennis Schroder took up the absence of heel energy left by PatBev, pestering Maxey as a defender. He got up in his grill and even drew an offensive foul as Maxey looked to cross him up (and did) but extended his arm too far. His pick-and-roll with Jakob Poeltl powered most of the Raptors' half-court offense.
The Sixers eventually caught up with Embiid still struggling to score with frequency but doing a very good job making plays for others, including on Harris' fourth triple that tied up the game. He also made some great plays on defense, ending the first half with three blocks.
The Sixers went into halftime leading by a score of 61-58.
2nd half
The Sixers got the Maxey-Embiid two-man game going in the second half, though Harris stayed ready to go and got some looks for himself, too. Maxey used his change-of-pace moves to dart to the rim and assisted Oubre and Harris on threes on the same play. He darted off the Embiid screen heading to the middle of the floor and kicked it out to the wing with the Raptors providing help at the nail.
76 points for the 76ers! pic.twitter.com/nociMeXuGU
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 23, 2023
However, Barnes and the Raptors kept hunting fast breaks. Embiid got them back by getting to the rim on a few Philly fast breaks. He still played hard, as evidenced by a hard closeout that nearly took him into the stands, but he was favoring his right leg in a few different plays. The big fella was also not totally happy about the lack of shooting fouls he got.
But even on his off days, Embiid can find a way to dominate. He got into a fantastic groove on his jumper and used it as his primary weapon to score 18 points in the third quarter. It's hard to fathom how a game that most viewers would perceive as well below a star player's standard can still feature a 28-7-8 stat line (on 10-17 shooting plus four blocks) through three quarters. The Sixers led 93-89 heading into the fourth.
The Sixers started the fourth quarter with fancy finishes from Harris, Maxey and Paul Reed while the Raptors went cold for a minute. Maxey got the crowd on its feet by draining a step-back triple that gave Philly its largest lead. Then he hit another off the catch.
Fourth-quarter Maxey continued with an and-one layup that boosted the Sixers' lead even further. The Raptors emptied their bench, which included former Sixer Jalen McDaniels, with over two minutes left. This game was the first time that three Sixers scored 30 points since 1961.
Random rumblings:
- The Sixers posting Home Alone clips with Franklin the Dog as Kevin, the Raptors' mascot (The Raptor, it's called) as Harry and Drake as Marv during a timeout was funny.
- The refs weren’t great tonight but shoutout to Ray Acosta for not hitting Emiid with a technical after getting almost in his face after a no-call. That should be the norm for officials barring some truly nasty language but it unfortunately is not.
The Sixers will take the court on Christmas Day when they face the Miami Heat at 8:00 PM EST.
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