Tobias Harris, Sixers Hang On To Beat Raptors To Remain Perfect At Home
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Tobias Harris scored 26 points and rookie Matisse Thybulle had a career-high 20 points, including a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their 12th straight home victory, 110-104 over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. Ben Simmons had 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists a day after scoring a career-high 34 points while hitting his second career 3-pointer as the Sixers remained unbeaten at home this season.
Kyle Lowry, playing in his second game after missing 11 in a row due to a broken left thumb, scored 26 points, and OG Anunoby had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto. The defending champion Raptors have lost three in a row.
Joel Embiid returned from a one-game absence due to a hip injury, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds. Embiid was benched with 2:08 remaining after committing turnovers on three straight Philadelphia possessions that turned a seemingly easy victory into a tight one. He had seven of Philadelphia's 17 turnovers.
The Raptors, who trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, got as close as five before Thybulle's two free throws with 26.3 seconds left sealed the deal.
It wasn't Embiid's best performance, but it was much better than the last time the teams met.
Embiid had the worst game of his career in a 101-96 loss at Toronto on Nov. 25. He was scoreless in 32 minutes, went 0 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 4 from 3-point range, and missed all three free-throw attempts. In the five games that followed and entering Sunday, Embiid averaged 26.8 points and 15.2 rebounds while going to the free-throw line 64 times, making 56.
Toronto got close late but had dug too big of a hole in the third quarter.
Philadelphia held Toronto to 36% shooting in the first half while taking a 57-42 lead at the break. The 76ers continued to clamp down on the Raptors offense after halftime and got a big lift from the bench during a decisive third-quarter run that saw their lead grow to as many as 20 points, 73-53, on Al Horford's hook with 4:23 remaining in the period.
It was 63-53 Philadelphia when Lowry made the first of two free throws with 5:51 left. Then, Thybulle sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a James Ennis III layup before Horford's shot that capped a 10-0 run over 1:28. Simmons put the exclamation point on the quarter with a driving, one-handed slam over Gasol.
TIP-INS
Raptors: Fred VanVleet (right knee contusion) was injured in the first half and didn't return. He had two points in 12 minutes and missed his only 3-point attempt, ending his streak of at least one 3 in every game this season. Now, only Houston's James Harden and Brooklyn's Taurean Prince have a 3 in every game this season. Terrence Davis II was issued a Flagrant 1 foul with 34.4 seconds left in the first quarter while contesting Mike Scott's 3-pointer.
76ers: Josh Richardson (right hamstring strain) missed his sixth straight game. . The teams will meet twice more, Jan. 22 at Toronto, and March 18 in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart rang the ceremonial Liberty Bell prior to the game and sat courtside with teammate Scott Laughton.
UP NEXT
Raptors: At Chicago on Monday.
76ers: Host Denver on Tuesday.
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