76ers Comeback Against Raptors Falls Short Thanks To Sloppy Turnovers
Toronto Raptors' Gradey Dick, right, dunks the ball with Philadelphia 76ers' Quentin Grimes, left, defending during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in Philadelphia. Credit: (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
A disappointing and ugly loss for the 76ers.
Nearly a month into the 2025-26 NBA season, the 76ers have started impressively with a 9-5 record, despite Paul George and Joel Embiid missing multiple games. They started 4-0, but have not been able to win back-to-back games since then. That narrative continued tonight, as coming off a huge comeback win against the Clippers, the 76ers were unable to do the same against the Toronto Raptors, falling 121-112
It was a night of ugly turnovers for Philadelphia as the team combined for 21 turnovers, the most in a game for the 76ers this season. Those 21 turnovers led to 31 points from the Raptors, and that led to a huge deficit that the 76ers couldn’t come back from. The Raptors were efficient all night as their entire starting lineup had 15 points or more. Tyrese Maxey led with 24 points for Philadelphia.
Maxey’s night started hot as 11 of the 76ers’ first 23 points in the game came from Maxey. Unfortunately, the rest of the 76ers struggled to get going, and eight first-quarter turnovers resulted in 12 points for the Raptors. On top of that, Toronto’s shooting was efficient in the first 12 minutes, as they shot 57% from the field, resulting in a 33-28 lead after the first quarter.
With Maxey on the bench, others needed to step up in the second quarter to get the 76ers back out in front. They got a big three from Jared McCain, who was returning from a short stint with the Delaware Blue Coats, and Jabari Walker to take the lead. The Raptors went on a small run of their own to retake the lead, and back-and-forth both teams went as the quarter wound down.
Down six with under two minutes until the half, the 76ers answered back with a 9-0 run to retake the lead. Justin Edwards got things going with a pair of free throws and a big steal, and found VJ Edgecombe open for a monster slam dunk.
The stellar defense continued for Philadelphia as Edgecombe then picked up a steal, and Maxey followed that up with a long three-pointer to take the lead. Edgecombe added another bucket off a block from Andre Drummond, as the 76ers went ahead 56-53 heading into the break.
Despite leading at the half, that didn’t last long for Philadelphia, as the third quarter continued to be the frame that caused the 76ers’ downfall in games.
Toronto opened up the third on a 10-2 run, quickly retaking the lead, and throughout the first half of the quarter, the Raptors answered every 76ers run and locked down Maxey. Maxey finally got back to scoring right as Philadelphia went down double-digits, but the Raptors continued to dominate in the quarter.
Over the final four minutes of the third, the Raptors went on a 15-7 run to extend their huge lead. The 76ers combined for eight turnovers in the quarter, the second quarter of the night with eight turnovers for Philadelphia, and that helped Toronto take a 97-82 lead heading into the final 12 minutes of play.
Needing to mount another fourth-quarter comeback, the 76ers looked like they were on their way to open the frame, shortening the 15-point deficit to 11 after the first three minutes. The run continued for the 76ers as they pushed it to a 16-6 run over the first five minutes of the quarter.
With their lead down to just five, the Raptors finally knocked some shots to increase their lead, but back-to-back threes from Quentin Grimes put it back to a five-point game with under four minutes to play.
However, despite the great start to the quarter, the 76ers could not find a shot over the final minutes of play. Multiple misses led to huge threes from Immanuel Quickley and dunks from Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett to extend the Raptors’ lead. The final minutes of the game wound down, and so did the 76ers’ comeback efforts, as Philadelphia fell to Toronto 121-112.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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