In remote corners of Jurassic Park, movement and threat resume.
Backed into the wall, the Toronto Raptors shone with a 103-88 win at Philadelphia on Monday, cutting the Sixers’ lead to 3-2 in the East’s first-round series.
Impressive Pascal Siakam led the charge with 23 points, including several baskets that cut short the Sixers’ comeback efforts.
Precious Achiuwa beamed with 17 points, while OG Anunoby and Gary Trent each provided 16 points.
Scottie Barnes added 12 points.
The Raptors host the 76ers Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Game 6.
Earlier Monday, it was announced that Fred VanVleet would miss the rest of the series, suffering from a strained left hip.
He averaged 20.3 points and 6.7 assists per game this season, making the All-Star Game for the first time.
In the regular season, VanVleet and Siakam led the NBA with 37.9 minutes per game, on average.
The Raptors led from start to finish, including a 13-point lead at the half.
In the first half, both clubs had less than 30% three-point success, but Philly had nine turnovers and Toronto had five.
The visitors kept up their intensity and with 3:52 remaining in the game, the Raptors delivered a hard blow via an Anunoby three-point shot.
They then took control 91-79. When the Sixers took the ball, Embiid fumbled it, then Trent quickly added a long shot as well.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 20 points. He has sometimes seemed short of energy and not very aggressive, he who is dealing with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
The NBA fined him $15,000 on Monday for criticizing officials after Game 4.
“It felt like they had a job to do and they did it,” said the NBA scoring champion. So, congratulations to them. »
In Game 4, umpires called 26 fouls against the 76ers and 20 against the Raptors.
In the previous match, the differential was zero. In the first two meetings, the referees sanctioned the Raptors 50 times, the Sixers 36 times.
Tobias Harris had 16 points, one more than James Harden.
Danny Green had four 3-point shots en route to a 14-point night.