The Sixers Took Advantage Of Toronto’s Struggles To Even The Series With A Game 2 Win


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After a lopsided Game 1 loss in Toronto, the Philadelphia 76ers entered Game 2 on Monday evening with a sense of urgency. Despite some level of uncertainty with Joel Embiid’s status as a result of illness, the Sixers showed up in a big way on the road and, when the clock flipped to triple zeroes, Philadelphia emerged with a 94-89 victory to even the series and send things back to the City of Brotherly Love in (very) interesting fashion.

In the early going, there were signs of life from the Raptors, including Pascal Siakam taking it to Embiid on the interior.

The Sixers would awaken in short order, however, using an 11-2 run to take a 19-11 lead.

The duo of Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris keyed things for the visitors in the first quarter and the Sixers kept it rolling from there.

Philadelphia pushed their advantage to a relatively stunning 19 points midway through the second quarter, with the Raptors struggling mightily (10-of-37 from the floor at the outset) and reserve wing James Ennis filling it up with 11 early points.

The Raptors would stop the bleeding but, right as the tide seemed to be turning, Butler pushed back with a four-point play that stretched to a five-point play after a technical foul was assessed to the Raptors.
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All told, the Raptors shot just 33 percent from the floor and 3-of-15 from three in the first half, with credit to the Sixers for clamping down defensively. In contrast, Butler enjoyed success with 13 points and seven rebounds prior to the break.

13 and 7 for Butler: https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1123031818515574786

Predictably, Toronto did spring to life, scoring the first five points of the the second half and stretching their overall run to 10-0 to climb within eight.

The Raptors kept coming from there, pushing their overall spurt to 18-4 after a three-pointer from Kawhi Leonard.

Then, Marc Gasol completed the bounce-back with five straight to bring Toronto within one.

While the Raptors’ offense was helpful in allowing them to return to competitiveness, the Sixers were generating effective shot attempts and simply missing them. Philadelphia missed all 11 three-point attempts in the third quarter and scored only 18 points to leave the door open.

Still, the Sixers wouldn’t fade completely, putting together a 15-5 spurt between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters to retake a double-figure lead.
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In an effort to keep things interesting, the Raptors zoomed to one final push in the form of an 11-2 run and that onslaught allowed them to climb within four points with less than three minutes to go.

Butler wouldn’t allow his team to slip, responding in kind with a badly needed three.

After the three from Butler, Kyle Lowry buried back-to-back threes, bringing the home team back within a single possession at 90-87 at the 1:36 mark.

Siakam then scored with 47 seconds to go to make it a one-point game, putting the pressure back on the visiting Sixers. Embiid rose to the challenge, though, getting to the tin for a crucial bucket that doubled as the game-clincher.

The Raptors did have an open three in the air from Danny Green on their final possession, but it was simply not to be.
https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1123051703748763648

After a pair of three throws from Harris, the Sixers escaped with the victory.

On a night when their defense did the majority of the damage, the Sixers received a big-time effort from Butler, who scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to key the offense. Philadelphia placed five players in double figures but, if not for Butler’s heroics, it would not have been enough, even on a night in which the Raptors failed to score at an efficient rate.

The scene will shift back to Philly with a lot more intrigue as a result of the series-evening win from the Sixers and all eyes will be on a potentially pivotal Game 3 on Thursday.

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