Joel Embiid, Sixers Dominate Raptors in South Philly for Game 2

The Philadelphia 76ers kicked off their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. As the Raptors put a ton of focus on Philly’s most notable stars Joel Embiid and James Harden, the stars’ supporting cast rose to the occasion.

A sharpshooting outing from Tobias Harris and a playoff career-high from Tyrese Maxey allowed the Sixers to cruise past the Raptors with a dominant victory to take a 1-0 lead. And unfortunately for Toronto, they suffered more than just a game loss.

Veteran forward Thad Young suffered a sprained thumb in Game 1. In addition, the rookie standout Scottie Barnes injured his ankle, which required an X-ray and an MRI. While Barnes’ injury doesn’t seem like something that will require a long-term recovery, he was spotted in a walking boot on Monday morning shortly after being ruled out for Game 2.

The Raptors were nearly down three players when they met with the Sixers in South Philly for a rematch. With Young and Gary Trent Jr. listed as doubtful, it seemed Toronto would miss a few key pieces. However, Trent and Young were eventually upgraded to questionable before getting cleared for action.

At first, the Raptors held their own coming off of a blowout loss. Through the first quarter of action, Fred VanVleet was red-hot from three and helped the Raptors outscore the Sixers 33-32. From then on, though, the Raptors struggled.

In the second quarter of action, the Sixers held the Raptors to just 19 points as Toronto shot 34-percent from the field and 1-8 from three. Meanwhile, the Sixers rallied for 35 points as Tyrese Maxey once again came alive and made every one of his shots for 11 points.

Going into halftime, the Sixers led the Raptors 67-52. During the start of the second half in Game 1, Philadelphia was stagnant for a bit. But they learned from their mistakes in Game 2. Once again, the Sixers kept the ball rolling and outscored the Raptors 28-19.

By the time the game entered the final quarter, the Sixers were up 95-71 and once led by as many as 30 points. The Raptors battled back hard in the fourth quarter and left some spectators in South Philly nervous as they cut into the Sixers’ steep lead.

Unfortunately for Toronto, they didn’t have enough juice to complete an attempted comeback. Once again, the Sixers picked up a lopsided victory on their home court. As Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined for 54 points, while the rest of the starting lineup contributed with double digits in the scoring department, the Sixers took the Raptors out with a 112-97 win.

Now, the series heads to Toronto for Game 3. Will the Raptors get back in the series and pick up their first win? Or will the Sixers pin their opponent’s back to the wall? Soon enough, we’ll find out as the Sixers and the Raptors tip-off Game 3 on Wednesday. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.