PHILADELPHIA — The Wells Fargo Center crowd rose to its feet with about a minute remaining, trying to will James Harden to the basket with the 76ers trailing by three points. The All-Star point guard slid past his defender, but his layup attempt rolled off the rim.
That was not the Sixers’ final opportunity to take a late lead. But it represented a Sunday night when they could not sustain a fast start and fell to the Toronto Raptors, 93-88, in the first game of a key late-season back-to-back set.
Up next for the Sixers: the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat, for a game that tips off 23 hours after Sunday’s start and is a prime date the Sixers could need to rest stars such as Harden and Joel Embiid.
The Raptors won without All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet (rest) and starting wing OG Anunoby (finger) against a Sixers team they could meet in the playoffs. This would be the matchup if the postseason began Sunday (and the Raptors won their first play-in game). They will play for the final time of the regular season April 7 in Toronto.
A Pascal Siakam turnaround jumper gave the Raptors an 89-86 lead with 2 minutes, 7 seconds to play. After Harden’s miss at the rim and an Embiid turnover on the Sixers’ next possession, the Raptors kept the Sixers in the game by missing three free throws in a span of less than nine seconds and allowing Tyrese Maxey to drive for an uncontested dunk to cut the advantage to 90-88. But Harden was called for an offensive flagrant foul on a drive with 2.7 seconds to play, and Chris Boucher and Siakam finished the game off at the line.
Toronto coach Nick Nurse said before the game that his defense had “a lot of things on the menu” to throw at All-Stars Embiid and Harden. It largely worked, as those two and Tobias Harris combined to shoot 13-of-41 from the floor. Harden also missed two free throws with less than three minutes to play that would have given the Sixers a one-point lead.
Instead, the Sixers got lifts from Maxey (19 points, 4 assists) and Matisse Thybulle (12 points on 4-of-6 shooting) while that trio struggled. Siakam led the Raptors with 26 points.
Great first, bad second
The Sixers’ sharp first-quarter offense propelled them to a 28-16 lead when Embiid found Maxey for a dunk. They made 11 of their first 16 field goals and shot 60% in the period. They did not commit a turnover. They got nine points from Maxey and eight from Thybulle.
Things flipped in the second quarter, however, when the Raptors outscored the Sixers 30-17. That included an 11-2 burst during the frame’s final three minutes. Toronto got within 52-49 on a Precious Achiuwa three-pointer, cut that deficit to one on a Pascal Siakam dunk with about a minute to play, and seized a 57-54 lead on two Gary Trent free throws and a tip-in through contact by Scottie Barnes in the last minute.
Embiid’s uneven night
Embiid played against the Raptors after being listed as questionable for the third consecutive game with back soreness. His results were uneven by his lofty standards: 21 points on 6-of-20 shooting and 13 rebounds.
He went 4-of-16 through three quarters, but began to draw fouls during a stretch late in the period. He made three consecutive trips to the free-throw line, helping the Sixers rebuild a 70-63 advantage.
Shortly after reentering in the fourth, he somehow punched the ball into the basket through contact and hit the ensuing free throw to tie the score at 82 with less than eight minutes left and then finished inside to reduce Toronto’s lead to 85-84. But he air-balled a contested jumper with his team still trailing by that margin with less than three minutes to play, and misfired on a turnaround attempt with the Sixers down 89-86.
The MVP contender missed eight of his 12 attempts from the floor and shot only two free throws in the first half, although he did convert an acrobatic finish late in the second that marked the Sixers’ only field goal in the final three minutes.
Halfway with Harden
Harden began playing with the Sixers after the All-Star break, with 24 regular-season games remaining. The Sixers crossed Game 12 with Sunday’s loss and are now 8-3 when Harden plays. He finished the game with 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting with 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
Coach Doc Rivers reiterated before the game that he believes his team is “trending in the right direction,” but still had weaknesses to improve during the season’s final three weeks. Some of those were present Sunday.
The Raptors outrebounded the Sixers 56-40, leading to 18 second-chance points. Toronto also scored 50 points in the paint and 16 in transition.
A funky lineup
The Sixers closed the third quarter and began the fourth with Harden, Danny Green, Georges Niang, Deandre Jordan, and Paul Reed, who had not played meaningful minutes since before the All-Star break. Reed was a late sub for Thybulle, who left the game grimacing and appearing to grab his hand or wrist.
It did not go well. The Sixers allowed the Raptors to cut what was a 72-67 lead to 74-73, before Harris subbed back in for Reed about two minutes into the period.
Thybulle reentered the game with about seven minutes to play in the fourth.
