First of Many — 76ers at Raptors Recap

The 76ers took down the Raptors to win their first game of the year. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey carried Philadelphia past Toronto with their dominating offense and Toronto’s lack of shooting, hitting only 43.7% of their shots propelled the Sixers to victory. Nick Nurse won his revenge game against his former team and will want to continue the momentum from this win into their game on Sunday against Portland.

What led Philadelphia to their first win?

Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid each had an impressive 34 points, which clearly was the main reason for Philly’s 114-107 win. This is Maxey’s second game in a row with 30+ points, as he scored 31 in Milwaukee on Thursday. If Maxey can keep up this dominance, not only would he be in All-Star conversations, but he’d also be in the MVP conversation. Kelly Oubre Jr. also scored a solid 18 points off the bench and could be in the Sixth Man of the Year talks if he keeps this up.

Toronto shot extremely lackluster, hitting only 38 of their 87 shots. Their worst shooter by far was Precious Achuiwa who shot only 30% and only put up 6 points in 18 minutes. If the Raptors want to dominate in the East they really need to step up their shooting, as they no longer have sharpshooter Fred VanVleet.

The Sixers take on the Trailblazers on Sunday in Philadelphia at 7:30 P.M.