By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers were riding high after beating the Washington Wizards on Sunday night. They faced a short-handed Toronto Raptors team that was looking to stifle the Sixers momentum and get their second win of the season. Philly used a late game offensive explosion to beat the Raptors 114-109.

The Sixers jumped on the Raptors from the opening tip-off. They hit their shots early and were taken full advantage of the outmatched Toronto defenders. Joel Embiid picked up right where he left off on Sunday. He scored 13 of his 36-points in the first quarter. Embiid got whatever he wanted from the field, and it did not matter who was on him. He was hitting his shots from the perimeter, paint, and three-point line. Embiid has continued to look like his old self, and it has made life easier on his teammates. If he continues to play like this Philly could be a serious contender in the Eastern Conference.

Despite the offensive explosion from Joel Embiid. The Raptors weathered the storm and continued to fight throughout this game. They were led by Pascal Siakam (28-points) and Chris Boucher (28-points) who combined for 56-points. It did not matter who the Sixers put on them. They continued to attack the paint and hit three-pointers. Boucher hit five three-pointers tonight. He made the Sixers pay for daring to give him any space to get a shot off. Philly was able to stifle them by switching Embiid on Siakam and Harris on Boucher. Both were able to stifle them late in the game.

Philly was able to pull-away late in the game thanks to Embiid hitting some clutch buckets and Harris hitting free-throws. This victory was a total team effort as the bench once again stepped up and the return of Georges Niang has been pivotal for Philly. He scored 19-points tonight and hit five three-pointers. Having the bench pulling their weight again has helped keep Embiid and Harris fresh.

Philly will now prepare to face the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. They will once again need to have another balanced scoring night if they want to keep up with Brooklyn’s high-powered offense. Additionally, they will need to have another strong effort on the perimeter if they want to stifle them and get their 19^th victory of the season.