Trent averaged 18 points against Philadelphia in the regular season, but struggled mightily on Monday. “One win at a time, get one and it's a completely different look.”īeing short-handed has been a tough blow. go back home, get some home cooking, get in front of our fans, see if we can get a little bit momentum on our side there. “It's the first to four and I've seen it plenty of times, so we've got a chance. “Nobody is sad or defeated,” VanVleet said.
The Raptors, of course, went on to win that series in six games before beating Golden State in the NBA Finals. When asked: “Where do you go from here?” a straight-faced Leonard said, “To Toronto for Game 3.” They dropped the first two games of the 2019 conference final in Milwaukee, prompting a hilarious line from former star Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors are no strangers to trailing a series 0-2. VanVleet knocked down a three-pointer with 1:12 to play that made it a 12-point game, but Toronto couldn't get the deficit to single digits. The Sixers hit back though and when former Raptor Danny Green drove to the hoop for a dunk, Philadelphia was back up by 19 with 4:18 to play. The Raptors finally showed some life, slicing the difference to 11 with a 15-0 run punctuated by an Anunoby three-pointer. Philadelphia took a 95-71 advantage into the fourth quarter. When Embiid knocked down a three-pointer late in the third, the Sixers led by 27 points to the delight of the noisy Wells Fargo Arena. ”I just told our guys to just play through it.“īut the Raptors then went ice cold, missing 14 consecutive field goals in a dry spell that straddled the second and third quarters.
“They wanted to muck the game up and play physical,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. Toronto got off to a strong start and led by a point at the end of the first quarter. We need to get one and we get ourselves back in the series.” “I think they'll rise up and they'll play better. “And the way we finished the game, I don't see (that) our guys are discouraged at all,” the coach said. Nurse said winning one game in Philadelphia, even if they'd been completely healthy, would have been considered an upset. “You saw that there, OG got hot, Chris had a good showing there late, so we're trying to build on that going forward as we get ready to go home.” “As long as there's time on the clock, we're going to continue to fight and scrap. “One thing about this team all season, we never quit, we're pretty good at facing adversity, we've responded to challenges throughout the year and you've got to love the fight and effort from guys,” VanVleet said. The best of-seven series now heads to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday, the first time Scotiabank Arena has hosted playoff basketball since Game 5 of the NBA Finals in 2019.ĭespite a pair of ugly losses in Philadelphia, the Raptors managed to claw back from a 27-point deficit to pull within 11 points on Monday, some positive momentum they say they can build on. Fred VanVleet scored 20 points and Chris Boucher finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Pascal Siakam had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto. An ailing Gary Trent Jr., started the game but played only nine minutes. Toronto's prized rookie suffered a left ankle sprain in Game 1 and sat courtside in a walking boot. OG Anunoby had 26 points for the Raptors, who were playing without Scottie Barnes.
“(Embiid) was saying to me, 'I'm going to keep making all the free throws, if you keep following,' and I said, 'Well, you might have to,”' Nurse said of the post-game chat that largely summed up the night.
Philadelphia had just beaten Toronto 112-97 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series and Embiid had run roughshod over the Raptors, scoring 12 of his 31 points on free throws, and hauling down 11 rebounds. PHILADELPHIA - Seconds after the final buzzer sounded, the television camera caught Raptors coach Nick Nurse and Sixers big man Joel Embiid having a cordial sideline conversation.