KC Medico, Staff 

Cover picture courtesy of ESPN

The Toronto Raptors walked into a hostile Philadelphia crowd and defeated the 76ers 103-88. This win makes the series 3-2 still favoring the 76ers. 

From the beginning, turnovers were a problem for the Sixers as in the first quarter they had six turnovers. Even with turnovers, they were able to keep the game close as the closing score of the first was 29-27 Raptors. 

It wasn’t until the second quarter when the Raptors blew the game out of the water. They started the quarter with a 12-0 run and the Sixers couldn’t recover. With Raptors All-Star Fred Van Fleet out with a left hip flexor strain they looked to this year’s Rookie of the Year winner Scottie Barnes as he scored eight points in the quarter. 

“We always kind of figure it out,” stated Raptors forward Pascal Siakim. 

The Sixers would miss their first nine shots of the quarter and didn’t score until the six minute mark. At halftime the Raptors were up 54-41. With boos raining in from the Wells Fargo, the Sixers would have to find a way to turn it around. 

With the Raptors tall lineup staying in for most of the game it was clear the Sixers were having a tough time offensively. The Sixers finished the game only making 38.8 percent of their shots from the field and only 27 percent of their three point shots. 76ers center and MVP finalist Joel Embiid stated in his post-game press conference “We all need to be better offensively. We missed a bunch of wide-open shots. At times, I just felt like we just invited, when I was getting doubled, we were not aggressive attacking the ball. We just kept moving the ball around the perimeter, and that gave them time to recover, and that’s why [we] were not able to get anything out of it.”

As it seems with most of the NBA at this point in the season, many stars are getting hurt including Embiid. Embiid has a torn ligament in his right thumb. Most players have surgery and sit out for six or more weeks, however Embiid is fighting through his injury and planning on playing until the season is over. Even with a bad hand Embiid was still the leading scorer for the Sixers putting up 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. 

The Raptors were able to capitalize on the Sixers mistakes and make plenty of shots. The Raptors shot 51.2 percent from the field. The Raptors would go on to win with ease. With momentum leaning towards Toronto, head coach for the Raptors Nick Nurse is not letting that distract him or his players.  “Maybe there is (momentum) but it doesn’t really matter… Ball goes up on Thursday, everybody’s gotta play like heck.”With a red hot Toronto Raptors team and a lackluster 76ers squad tensions are high going into game six which is sure to be a great matchup in Toronto.