No team in NBA history has come back from an 0-3 deficit, but the Toronto Raptors are two games away from being the first to do it after winning Game 5 against the 76ers 103-88 at Wells Fargo Center.
The 76ers hold a 3-2 series lead, but the momentum is with the Raptors as the series shifts to Toronto for Game 6 Thursday night.
Toronto was without Fred VanVleet(hip), but Pascal Siakam had a game-high 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 20 points and 11 rebounds;
Tobias Harris, who had 16 points and seven rebounds, says the 76ers did not bring the right energy in Game 5.
“To be honest with you, this is a tough loss for us, a game that we wanted,” Harris said. “We didn’t put enough effort into getting the W, but we gotta stick together. We gotta figure out how we can gather that type of energy and be able to be at our best; we really just gotta focus on what’s worked for us through the series in the games that we have won and what has been successful, and we have to just do more of that, we can’t get away from what has really worked during our three games that we have won, and that’s just the motto for the next game, we gotta be better.”
James Harden had 15 points and seven assists on 11 shots(4-11). That’s not bad, but Philly needed more, and Embiid, who is battling a torn ligament in his thumb, says the former MVP has to be more aggressive.
“I’ve been saying all season since he got here, he needs to be aggressive, and he needs to be himself,” Embiid said about Harden. “That’s not really my job. That’s probably on Coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots, especially if they’re going to guard me the way they’ve been guarding.”
The 76ers shot 38% from the, including 27% from deep. Also, they had 15 turnovers, which led to 20 points for Toronto. But despite the struggles on offense, Embiid is not concerned.
“I don’t know if you can see, but they double me just like last game, really everywhere whether that’s the post, the elbow, the three-point line,” Embiid said. “You can tell they are really trying to get the ball out of my hands, so we didn’t make shots today, but we just gotta keep trusting, and we will be better.”
As they get ready for Game 6, Philadelphia must be better. Embiid looks noticeably uncomfortable with his injured thumb, but he has to fight through it. Harden is either hurt or lost a step, but like Embiid, he has to be better.
The 76ers are still in control, but they don’t want this series to go back to Philadelphia for Game 7 because anything can happen at that point.
Expect the 76ers to bounce back Thursday night in Toronto.
