PHILADELPHIA — The race for the loose ball about midway through the fourth quarter wound up in Tyrese Maxey’s grasp. Maxey stopped at the left wing, wide open, and fired away from beyond the arc.
The shot went splash, and order was restored.
What appeared to be another 76ers onslaught in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series briefly turned dicey, before the Sixers closed out a 112-97 victory Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The series now shifts to Toronto for Games 3 and 4, which will be played Wednesday and Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.
The Sixers outscored the Raptors 63-38 in the second and third quarters, but needed to weather a Toronto push in the final period.
Toronto began the fourth on a 15-2 run, capped by a three-pointers by Chris Boucher and OG Anunoby and a layup by Khem Birch to cut the Sixers’ lead to 97-86 before Maxey’s scramble and big shot. The Sixers then scored another six consecutive points, including a dunk by Danny Green, to push their lead back out a comfortable 105-86 with about four minutes remaining.
Just after halftime, the Sixers stretched their lead to 20 points on a Tobias Harris three-pointer with less than nine minutes to play. That advantage grew to 87-60 when Joel Embiid spun in the corner and drilled a three-pointer with less than four minutes to play in the period. And it reached 27 points again when Maxey hit a step-back three in the frame’s final minute.
Embiid, who on Sunday night was named one of three finalists for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, scored 19 of his 31 points during a dominant first quarter and added 11 rebounds. After that, he got plenty of help from his teammates on a night the Sixers shot 52.2% from the floor and totaled 22 fastbreak points. Maxey flirted with a triple-double with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 8 assists and 9 rebounds. James Harden finished with 14 points on 3-of-9 shooting, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Raptors, meanwhile. Toronto was shorthanded in the game, playing without do-it-all Rookie of the Year contender Scottie Barnes and missing an ill Gary Trent Jr. in the second half.
Chippy early
Embiid and Anunoby picked up double technicals after a couple of shoves. Then, the home crowd stood and booed in unison when, after Embiid lost his footing under the basket, Pascal Siakam ran him over to send him to the floor. Then, Harden dropped a bounce pass to Embiid for the and-1 finish through Siakam’s contact. Embiid celebrated with a scream as the crowd roared.
That all occurred in the game’s first six minutes, a continuation of what has already become a spicy series after a physical Game 1 and postgame comments by Raptors coach Nick Nurse about the officiating.
That quarter was also a duel between two All-Stars. Embiid totaled 19 points, including 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, while Toronto point guard Fred VanVleet scored 15 points on 4-of-6 from three-point distance.
Winning the non-Embiid minutes
After the first-quarter back and forth between Embiid and VanVleet, the Sixers created double-digit distance with Embiid on the bench.
Coach Doc Rivers went back to the Maxey-Harden combination that over the weekend said he really liked in Game 1. And it worked brilliantly for the Sixers again, outsourcing the Raptors 15-5 during the stretch that lasted just under three minutes.
After a scoreless first quarter, Maxey got two quick buckets on a floater and crafty finish inside. Danny Green and Tobias Harris both buried three-pointers, before Harden drained a quintessential step-back three to put the Sixers up 55-44 about midway through the period.
After briefly cutting the Sixers’ lead to 9 on a Thad Young hook shot just after Embiid re-entered, the Raptors never got within single digits again.
Off to Toronto
The cliche is that no series begins until the home team loses. And even with this comfortable lead, it will be interesting to see how the Sixers respond during Wednesday’s Game 3 and Saturday’s Game 4.
The Raptors historically have one of the NBA’s rowdiest home-court advantages. And the Sixers will be playing without perimeter defensive stalwart Matisse Thybulle, who is ineligible to travel to Canada because he has chosen to be unvaccinated against COVID-19. Thybulle finished with five points and one assist in 10 minutes Monday.
The Sixers lost in Toronto, 119-114, without Thybulle less than two weeks ago.
