Sixers blast Toronto Raptors in Game 6 to close out first-round playoff series with 132-97 win | Analysis

TORONTO — Tyrese Maxey sat atop the Scotiabank Arena scorer’s table Thursday afternoon, when Georges Niang interrupted while walking toward the media crowd surrounding the Sixers’ second-year point guard.

“Come on, Tyrese. There ain’t much to say,” Niang hollered following the Sixers’ shootaround. “Win, and let’s get the hell up on out of here.”

That loose-yet-intense tone had permeated from the Sixers the past two days, following a Game 5 loss to the Raptors in their first-round playoff series that players described as “terrible” and “lackadaisical.” It reached an apex during that shootaround, coach Doc Rivers said, when coaches cut the session short after about 35 minutes because “They were done with coaching. ... They were locked in.” The Sixers then translated that mentality to the court in a dominant 132-97 victory to finally defeat Toronto, 4-2, and move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the top-seeded Miami Heat.

“I told our guys it was the most serious game I think we’ve played this year,” Rivers said. “There was no messing around. I thought we came with a great intent, and that’s a lesson.”

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After the Sixers took a commanding 3-0 lead on MVP finalist Joel Embiid’s thrilling overtime game-winner last Wednesday, the Raptors won the next two to put a scare in the Sixers. But no NBA team has ever squandered a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series. The Sixers avoided becoming the first.

Embiid was a big reason why, finishing with 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line while looking far more comfortable playing through a torn ligament in his right thumb (and egging on the Raptors crowd that chanted “[expletive] Embiid!” late in the third quarter).

Maxey added 25 points, including three three-pointers in less than three minutes of game time to help the Sixers build a 23-point third-quarter advantage that eventually ballooned to 35 points at game’s end.

After struggling offensively in their two consecutive series losses, the Sixers shot a blistering 58% from the floor and 22-of-23 (95.7%) from the free-throw line Thursday night. The Sixers led just 62-61 at halftime — and allowed Toronto to score 12 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds — but then outscored the Raptors, 37-17, in the decisive third quarter.

“We did it through the defensive end, getting stops, getting out and running, having our pace,” forward Tobias Harris said. “Tyrese was huge in making shots for us in that third quarter, and we just rolled off of that momentum. That was kind of the standard of how we want to play, and how we know we can play and going into the second round. That’s what we have to do.”

Game 1 against the Heat is Monday night in Miami. The Sixers and Heat split their regular-season series, 2-2.

Embiid and Rivers both called for Harden to be more aggressive following a Game 5 where he took only 11 shots. And he set a clear early tone as part of a 22-point, 15-assist performance. He made seven of his 12 shots, and went 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

He scored 10 of those points in the opening frame by constantly attacking the paint, including on an emphatic one-handed dunk after whiffing on a wide-open layup. He also made all four of his free throws and totaled five assists during a first quarter in which the Sixers scored 20 points in the paint and shot 63%.

“This last two days, we really got him in the right spots,” Rivers said of Harden. “We wanted to just keep freeing his mind up, just keep attacking.”

After that, Embiid and Maxey got rolling, allowing Harden to become more of a pass-first point guard and complementary scorer. But his shots were timely.

Harden missed his first layup of the third quarter, but then got past his defender and all the way to the basket about two minutes into the period. Later, a step-back three-pointer gave the Sixers a 92-70 lead with less than four minutes to play in the quarter. Another signature long ball — which drew a technical on Rivers for arguing for a foul call and four-point play opportunity — pushed that advantage to 104-81 lead with less than 10 minutes to play.

“My confidence continues to grow as I learn my teammates,” Harden said.

When second-year big man Paul Reed walked from the bench to the scorer’s table about midway through the first quarter, it signaled several tweaks to Rivers’ rotations.

Reed and Niang were the first subs, replacing Embiid and DannyGreen. Furkan Korkmaz got meaningful (albeit brief) minutes for the first time in this series, replacing Harris. The Sixers finished the first quarter and started the second with Maxey, Korkmaz, Niang, Embiid, and Shake Milton, before Harris and Green quickly re-entered.

Reed then played a two-minute stretch in the second, giving Embiid a mid-quarter break. Those new stretches for Reed allowed him to play with the starters, and for Embiid to return late in the first quarter, when the Raptors were in the bonus.

“We had to sell it to him, because that is not a rotation he’s ever liked,” Rivers said. “But he took it. … Our sell to him was, ‘When you go back in, you’ll be in penalty,’ and so he loves that. He was very happy with that.”

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Rivers followed a similar pattern in the third quarter, inserting Reed for Embiid with about five minutes to play before Niang entered for Harris late in the period. Reed and Embiid even played two defensive possessions together late in the third quarter.

Niang totaled six points and four rebounds in 21 minutes, but no other Sixers bench player amassed more than 12 minutes. Conversely, the Raptors bench was fueled by Chris Boucher’s 25 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes, while Game 5 star Precious Achiuwa was limited to three points on 1-of-7 shooting and Thaddeus Young was held scoreless in 21 minutes.

Green was an appropriate spokesperson heading into Game 6, as a three-time champion who understands the magnitude of the moment and winning big games in Toronto.

He carried that to his play Thursday night, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and five rebounds to build off a strong Game 5 performance. Green went 4-of-6 from deep in the first half — one miss was a desperation heave at the second-quarter buzzer — by feasting when the Raptors left him open in the corner.

“If you’re going to go on the road, you should bring Danny Green with you,” Rivers said. “Really. He is not fazed at all. He’s pump-faking, taking threes. It’s what we didn’t have last year [when he got hurt in the second round against the Atlanta Hawks].”

Rivers said Green will “for sure” remain in the starting lineup, even though the unvaccinated Matisse Thybulle will be eligible to play in all remaining playoff games.

Green and Maxey spearheaded the Sixers’ 16-of-40 (40%) three-point shooting effort. The Raptors, meanwhile, connected on just 7 of 35 (20%) their attempts from long range.