The Philadelphia 76ers became the first team to win their first two games of the first round series in the Western Conference with a 112-97 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, led by another stellar performance from Cameroonian post Joel Embiid.
Embiid, who is one of the three finalists for Most Valuable Player of the regular season, could not be contained throughout the game by the Canadian defense, which saw how Philadelphia’s leader stole the night with 31 points and 11 rebounds, even though this time he did not hand out assists.
Another great game from Tyrese Maxey
The one who shined again for the team from the “Fraternal City” was the inspired Tyrese Maxey, who had a great Game 1 and again stood out in Game 2 by accumulating 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, Embiid was not the only one with a double-double for the 76ers, as Tobias Harris accumulated 20 points and pulled down 10 boards.
The one who continues not to show the level for which he arrived in Philadelphia was James Harden, whose contribution was severely limited, he only scored 14 points.
It was an extremely frustrating game for Toronto, at no time did they really feel threatened by Philadelphia’s lead, even though, after trailing by as many as 27 points, they managed to cut the deficit to as little as 11 in the fourth period.
Who were Toronto’s scoring leaders?
In that losing cause, the Raptors’ top scorers were OG Anunoby with 26 points, in addition to Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, each contributing 20 units.
The visitors’ Rookie of the Year candidate, Scottie Barnes, was unable to see action in the game due to a sprained left ankle that took him out of Game 1.
What’s next in this series?
Game 3 of this series will be vital for the Raptors, as it will be the first at home and they cannot lose if they want to continue with real possibilities, this game will take place next Wednesday.