Joel Embiid And The Sixers Seized Control With A Dominant Game 3 Win Over Toronto

After a much needed victory in Game 2, the Philadelphia 76ers entered Thursday evening’s Game 3 tilt against the Toronto Raptors in a good spot. Still, Joel Embiid and company were actually seen as the Las Vegas underdog on their home floor, outlining the expectation that the Raptors would put up quite a fight in front of what was a hostile crowd.

In the end, however, the home team was spectacular for the vast majority of the night. With Embiid at the forefront, the Sixers cruised to a 116-95 victory to seize control of the series, giving them a 2-1 edge over their foes.

The early going was kind to the Sixers, with the home team claiming the advantage on the strength of seven quick points and a highlight block from Embiid.

Though much of the attention was paid to Philadelphia’s big guns throughout the night, the Wells Fargo Center faithful enjoyed the return of Mike Scott from injury, particularly when he banged home a three-pointer.

The Raptors would scratch and claw, though, with Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, and Danny Green posting nine points each in the opening period.

The Sixers would extend their advantage to double figures in the second quarter with an 8-0 run at the outset. That positive momentum would largely continue but there was a moment of weirdness when Ben Simmons caught Kyle Lowry with an elbow that prompted a widespread reaction in the NBA world.

Most of the potential fallout from that play won’t arrive until the stretch between Games 3 and 4, but it did dominate the chatter for a few minutes. In the meantime, Simmons found Jimmy Butler for a dunk in transition to reignite the home crowd.

The Raptors would spring to life with a run to cut it to six, threatening for the first time in a long while.

Immediately, the Sixers retaliated with a 10-2 spurt of their own, with threes from Butler and J.J. Redick leading to a celebration from Philadelphia legend Allen Iverson, who sat courtside for the evening.

Brett Brown’s team took a double-figure lead into halftime, based heavily on the outstanding play of Embiid and the team-wide shooting prowess from beyond the arc. The All-NBA center posted 18 points (including 2-for-2 from three and 8-for-8 from the free throw line) and seven rebounds, with Philadelphia connecting on eight of their 14 attempts from three-point range.

On the Raptors side, Leonard keyed things to the tune of 17 points but, simply put, Toronto’s supporting cast lacked greatly, particularly in the backcourt. That theme continued into the third quarter, with Philadelphia building their lead to as many as 18 points (at 75-57) on the back of continued offensive explosiveness.

The visitors finally turned it on down the stretch of the third quarter and, again, it was Leonard at the helm of it all. The All-NBA forward scored 14 points on a perfect 6-for-6 clip in the period, helping Toronto cut the lead to eight.

To begin the fourth, Philadelphia reestablished control, building their lead back to 12. Then, frustration overflowed for the Raptors, with Siakam committing a flagrant foul against Embiid.

Embiid converted both free throws and Philly kept coming, quickly putting more space between themselves and the Raptors with a 21-3 run to take a 26-point lead with fewer than six minutes remaining.

That explosion proved to be the exclamation point on what was a stunningly impressive showing from Philadelphia. Overall, it was a dominant offensive showing from the Sixers, led by Embiid. The always-entertaining big man finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, and he was complemented by a starting group that placed all five players in double figures, headlined by 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists from Butler.

As a team, Philadelphia scored at will throughout the night, and it was a message-sending performance for the perceived underdog as Game 4 looms on Sunday afternoon.