Canada Sports News

The Toronto Raptors shut down Joel Embiid and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 101-96, making a statement against one of the biggest rivals in the East. Even though the majority of the experts didn’t believe in Nick Nurse’s team, they are still among the top teams in the league.

Last night showed that even without Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, this team has the capability of beating any opponent in the league. Philly is the biggest favorite for winning the Eastern Conference, and yet the Raptors held them to 96 points.

It was mostly because hosts prevented Joel Embiid from scoring for the first time in his career. The Process had 11 misses from the game, and three from the free-throw line. Something is definitely not suiting well for Embiid once he plays at the Scotiabank Arena.

“Defensively, they were everywhere,” he said. “I would have never thought I would be here talking about zero points in an NBA game, but it is what it is.

The 76ers had a 96-91 lead with 4:03 left in the game, but they couldn’t score after that. Meanwhile, the Raptors used that, and delivered 10 straight points, clinching their 12th win of the season. As usual, it were Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet who stepped up in the crucial moments, and these two scored all those 10 buckets.

VanVleet hit the three to cut down the deficit to 96-94, Siakam’s three-point play got the lead for the home team, and Raptors’ point guard added two more free throws after that. Siakam slammed to close the match as the time expired. The two would combine for 49 points, Siakam had 25 and VanVleet 24.

The reigning MIP award winner added 7 boards and blocks on top of that. VanVleet had  8 assists.

Apart from them, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s role off the bench was pretty good, and the forward posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards.

The Raptors’ defense in the closing moments of the game was just fantastic. They were all over the court, and the 76ers didn’t know what hit them.

“Just being physical with them, not giving them easy shots, obviously making it tough for Embiid to catch it,” Siakam said.

The fact that they played with only 8 guys tonight makes this victory even bigger. Nurse spoke about that after the match, saying that the team adjusted to those circumstances and added that he wouldn’t want to lose more players.

“We don’t want to lose anybody else,” Nurse said. “Seems like we got quite a few guys out, but on we go. On we go.”

Josh Richarson had a team-high for the guests, 25 points, shooting threes 5 for 9. Tobias Harris had 18 with 5 boards, while Al Horford posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

Ben Simmons was one rebound shy of reaching another triple-double, 10 points, 14 assists and 9 boards.

Philadelphia (11-6) is heading back home to host Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

The Raptors (12-4) are playing with the New York Knicks on the same day. After that, the champions are visiting Orlando Magic, before starting a three-game homestand.