Tag: Philadelphia 76ers

RAPTORS NOTES
• The Toronto Raptors play the second of consecutive games against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet each had 23 points as the Raptors beat Philadelphia 110-103 on Sunday for their season-high fourth straight victory. After starting the 2020-21 season with one win in seven games, the Raptors are above .500 for the first time.
• The Raptors have won 16 straight games at home against the Sixers. Since 2013-14, Toronto is 25-5 vs. Philadelphia during the regular season.
• This is Toronto’s fifth and final ‘series’ in the first half where a team scheduled to play twice in one market, has those games scheduled to be played consecutively. The Raptors are 7-2 in ‘series’ games, which
includes sweeps over Charlotte (H) and Milwaukee (A) and splits with Miami (H) and Indiana (A). Toronto also swept consecutive games with Orlando, however it was a home-and-away set.
• Fred VanVleet is averaging career highs of 20.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds this season. He leads the NBA in total steals (53) and deflections (117), and is tied for second with 39 loose balls recovered. VanVleet could become the first undrafted all-star since Ben Wallace in 2006. Toronto has had at
least one all-star selected for seven straight seasons, with two Raptors going each of the last five years.
• The Raptors (8-3) have the best record in Eastern Conference in February. Toronto is averaging 116.4 points and shooting .473 (452-956) from the field, including .401 (159-397) from three-point range this month. The trio of Fred VanVleet (22.5), Pascal Siakam (22.0) and Norman Powell (21.5) lead the Raptors on the offensive end, combining to average 66.1 points in February. Two of Toronto’s three losses this month have come on the second night of a back-to-back set.
• Pascal Siakam recorded 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists Feb. 21 vs. Philadelphia. Siakam has now recorded five or more assists in a career-high five straight games (Feb. 14-21). He is averaging 6.2 assists and has a 3.10 assists-per-turnover ratio (31-to-10) during this stretch. Siakam has dished out
double-digit assists twice this season, including a career-high 12 Jan. 8 at Sacramento.
• Kyle Lowry missed his third straight game (Feb. 18-21), and sixth of the season, Sunday vs. Philadelphia due to a left thumb sprain. Lowry injured the thumb in the first quarter Feb. 16 at Milwaukee. The Raptors
are 6-0 this season without Lowry in the lineup and 18-2 dating back to the start of last season.
• Chris Boucher led the reserves with 17 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, in Sunday’s victory over the Sixers. He also matched a career high with five three-point field goals. Boucher has scored 15+ points
12 times this season and leads the NBA with seven double-doubles off the bench.

76ERS-RAPTORS: Philadelphia is 20-11 this season and in first place in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors are 16-15 on the season, sitting fifth
in the East. It’s the third of three meetings between the two teams during the First Half of the 2020-21 season. The season series is tied 1-1.
 Dec. 29, 2020: Philadelphia defeated Toronto, 100-93, at home.
o JOEL EMBIID led the 76ers with a stat-stuffing night, including 29 points (14-16 FT), 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals and
two blocks. TOBIAS HARRIS also tallied 20-plus points with 26 (11-20 FG), adding 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and
two blocks.
 Feb. 21, 2021: Philadelphia fell to Toronto, 110-103, on the road.
o BEN SIMMONS led the 76ers with 28 points (9-11 FG, 10-14 FT) and added nine rebounds and five assists in the loss.
Toronto’s CHRIS BOUCHER tied a career high with five three-pointers as he scored a bench-high 17 points, while FRED
VANVLEET and PASCAL SIAKAM tied for the team high with 23 points each.
RAPTORS TAKE FIRST OF TWO: The 76ers fell to the Raptors, 110-103, in the first of consecutive meetings at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Toronto won the second half, 58-48, en route to the seven-point victory.
 BEN’S BACK: Ben Simmons returned to the lineup, following a two-game absence, and led the team in scoring with 28 points (9-11 FG,
10-14 FT). He also added nine rebounds and five assists in his 39 minutes of action.
o It was Simmons’ fifth 20-point game of the season, and his second consecutive game leading the team in scoring. Each of his
20-point games have come since Jan. 23 at Detroit. In 12 games over that span, he’s averaging 19.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and
7.6 assists, while shooting .623 from the field and .711 from the free-throw line (NBA.com/stats).
o For the season, Simmons is one of five players (two in the East), averaging 15-8-7 in points, rebounds and assists. The only
other Eastern Conference player with such averages is Washington’s RUSSELL WESTBROOK, and the others are Western
Conference All-Star starters LUKA DONČIĆ, LEBRON JAMES and NIKOLA JOKIĆ (NBA.com/stats).
o Simmons’ .572 mark from the field for the season ranks 11th in the NBA, while his .671 mark from the free-throw line
represents a career high (NBA.com/stats).
 25… AGAIN: Joel Embiid turned in his 17th double-double of the season with 25 points (12-14 FT) and a season-high-tying 17 rebounds
(now done three times). He also added a pair of blocks shots in his 36 minutes. Embiid is tied with Miami’s BAM ADEBAYO and
Phoenix’s DEANDRE AYTON for 10th in the NBA with 17 double-doubles, while his average of 11.3 rebounds per game ranks eighth in
the league (NBA.com/stats).
o Embiid has now scored 25-or-more points in 14 consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 20 vs. Boston. The only 76er ever with
a longer such streak is Hall of Famer ALLEN IVERSON, who had three streaks of 15 such games and a franchise-best 27-
gamer (Elias Sports Bureau).
o During the streak, Embiid is averaging 34.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks over 14 contests. He’s
the only player in the league posting 30-10-3 per game over that span (NBA.com/stats).
o Embiid has tallied 34 rebounds over the last two games, posting a season-high 17 in each outing. It’s the eighth time in his
career he’s collected 17-or-more rebounds in consecutive games. The only other 76ers to do so since the 1990-91 season are
SAMUEL DALEMBERT (one streak), CLARENCE WEATHERSPOON (once), ARMEN GILLIAM (once) and Hall of Famers
DIKEMBE MUTOMBO (once) and CHARLES BARKLEY (once) (Stathead).
o He connected on 12 of his 14 free-throw attempts, giving him 249 for the season, which is second in the NBA only to Atlanta’s
TRAE YOUNG (254). Embiid leads the NBA in both free throws made (10.0) and attempted (11.7) per game
(NBA.com/stats).
 Embiid’s average of 10.0 free throws made per game is currently the seventh-best mark in NBA history, per
Stathead. No 76er have ever averaged more than 10 free throws per game for a full season.
 DANNY SWIPES: DANNY GREEN totaled a game-high five steals, adding nine points via three three-pointers against the Raptors. The
five steals matched a career high for Green, the fourth time he’s tallied five takeaways in a game. The three other occasions all came
while with San Antonio (Dec. 28, 2014, Nov. 25, 2013 and March 16, 2012), per Stathead. Green leads the team with 70 threes and is third with 36 steals. He’s one of nine players in the league with at least 70 threes
and 35 steals, joining New Orleans’ LONZO BALL, Indiana’s MALCOLM BROGDON and JUSTIN HOLIDAY, Utah’s MIKE CONLEY, Golden State’s STEPHEN CURRY, Milwaukee’s KHRIS MIDDLETON, Charlotte’s TERRY ROZIER and Toronto’s FRED VANVLEET (Stathead).