76ers Win Back-and-Forth Affair Over Raptors For 10th Win Of Season
Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey dribbles past Toronto Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It was back-and-forth for the majority of the night, but the 76ers were able to pull away when it mattered for the win.
The regular season isn’t always going to be peaches and cream for the 2026-27 Philadelphia 76ers, and this past week was easily the worst so far for the squad. After getting beat for the second time this year in an NBA Cup game against the Cavaliers, days later Philadelphia was destroyed at home by their rival, the Boston Celtics.
Coming off two losses in three games, the 76ers needed to get back on the right path against the Toronto Raptors, and while it wasn’t a dominant victory, Philadelphia got the job done late, pulling away to win 123-112.
The game had 25 total lead changes and was tied at nine different points in the 48 minutes of action. Back-to-back 36-27 quarters from Philadelphia were the real game-changer, as they were easily able to fend off an early Raptors lead to pull out the victory.
LeBron James sat out for sciatica injury management, and in his absence, the other stars, along with the 76ers bench, stepped up big time. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 27 points and eight assists, while Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown added 20 and 18 points, respectively.
Off the bench, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons came up big, combining for eight threes and 28 points while Jabari Walker added nine points and eight rebounds. It was mainly a two-man show for Toronto as RJ Barrett led the way, scoring 31 points while adding 14 boards, and Immanuel Quickley added 26 points.
As the game tipped off, Jakob Poeltl and Immanuel Quickley got the scoring for Toronto, while Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe did the same for Philadelphia. Maxey and Quickley traded threes, but Quickley’s three was the start of a 12-0 run for Toronto.
Collin Murray-Boyles and Ja’Kobe Walter kept the run going, and an and-one jumper from Quickley quickly made it 19-9 for the Raptors halfway through the first. Maxey finally ended that run with a free throw and a bucket, while four straight points from Edgecombe quickly made it a one-possession game once again.
However, that didn’t stop Toronto from going on another scoreless run, this one being a 14-0 run. Jamison Battle kicked things off with five points, and RJ Barrett added to the run with back-to-back triples, creating a 17-point lead with under two minutes left in the first quarter.
Joel Embiid finally ended the Raptors’ second run of the quarter with an and-one layup. Maxey knocked down a layup of his own on the second-to-last possession of the quarter, as after a steal from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, he found Anfernee Simons wide open, who drilled a three, just beating the buzzer to make it 33-24 Toronto after one.
The second quarter kicked off much better for Philadelphia as Simons picked up where he left off, drilling a three. Embiid and Jaylen Brown finally got rolling with back-to-back buckets, forcing a timeout from the Raptors. However, that didn’t matter as, following it, Brown drilled another bucket, and a steal and slam from Edgecombe gave Philadelphia the lead.
That slam capped a 19-1 for Philadelphia, and both teams traded shots, with Caldwell-Pope hitting back-to-back threes and Murray-Boyles scoring five points. Tied at 47 with under four minutes to go in the half, both teams kept trading blows as Battle and Dean Wade swapped threes, and Brown and Alijah Martin hit midrange jumpers.
As the final minute ticked down, Jabari Walker put in a putback for his first bucket of the game, but Barrett answered with a long three just before the final buzzer sounded, to tie the game at 60 heading into the break.
Out of the break, the back-and-forth play continued as Philadelphia got threes from Edgecombe and Wade, but Quickley, Barrett and Murray-Boyles all answered with buckets.
Brown, Maxey, and Embiid were the main driving force in the quarter for Philadelphia, but were unable to stop Toronto on the defense end as Barrett and multiple bench players kept the score even.
Following a turnaround jumper from Barrett to tie the game at 85, the 76ers went on an 11-2 run to close out the third for their largest lead of the night. Maxey and Brown got it going with back-to-back layups, and Simons drilled another three. Two more points from Maxey on free throws and a layup from Walker made it 96-87 heading into the final 12 minutes of action.
In the fourth, the 76ers began to try to pull away as Walker drilled a three to open the frame and Simons added a layup. Barrett’s hot night continued as he scored five straight points, and Quickley added four points to get their deficit down to single digits.
With Maxey and Embiid out of the game, it was all on Brown to lead the floor, and he, along with some help from Edgecombe, increased Philadelphia’s lead back to 13. Embiid checked back in with under five minutes to play, and despite the big man coming back in, a Battle three and a bucket from Poeltl all of a sudden made it a six-point game.
That lead was short-lived as threes from Caldwell-Pope and Simons and two buckets from Embiid made it a 15-point lead with under two to play. With the game in hand, Nick Nurse began to empty his bench as the 76ers continued to dribble the clock out. When it was all said and done, Philadelphia was able to pull away, beating Toronto 123-112 for their 10th win of the year.
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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