Philly Fans Boo Sixers Over Poor Performance In 103-88 Game 5 Loss To Toronto Raptors
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was a rough night in South Philadelphia on Monday. The Toronto Raptors beat the Sixers 103-88, forcing a Game 6 in Toronto on Thursday.
Philly fans are no strangers to booing when their teams aren't producing and they let the Sixers hear it after dropping Game 5, giving the Raptors life as they head back to their home court.
A sellout crowd packed the Wells Fargo Center ready to celebrate a series-clinching win, but there was not much worth cheering for.
Joel Embid is playing through some pain after suffering a torn ligament in his right thumb during Game 3. He had 20 points and 11 rebounds Monday night, but he says he was terrible on defense.
The rest of the 76ers starters struggled, shooting less than 41% from the field and the bench was outscored 29 to 11.
After trailing the Raptors for much of the first half, the Sixers couldn't cut the deficit any closer than nine points in the second half, losing the game 103-88.
The Sixers' stars blamed bad shooting and turnovers for the team's poor showing.
"It will be nice to shoot the basketball well," James Harden said. "We have to do everything in the sense of not turning the ball over, rebound the basketball very well and I don't think we did that from the beginning of the game."
Embiid says the team is fine after the loss, although he wants James Harden to take more shots.
"The beginning of the game we didn't make shots today, but you know just got to keep trusting and I think we will be better," Embiid said.
Some silver lining? No team in NBA history has ever lost a series after leading 3 games to none.
The Sixers have another chance to close out this series on Thursday night in Toronto, but they will be without star defender Matisse Thybulle, who's unable to play in Canada due to COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
Tipoff for Game 6 is 7 p.m.