Two big reasons the Sixers could turn the tables on the Raptors in Game 3 | David Murphy

The last two guys on the court at practice on Wednesday afternoon happened to be the two biggest reasons to believe that the momentum of the series can shift the Sixers way on Thursday night. At one end of the gym, Mike Scott was sprinting and sliding and squaring to the hoop in every conceivable direction, his tattooed skin shiny and slick with a healthy glisten. At another end, Joel Embiid was working his way through a shooting drill inside the paint, his front shoulder shielding would-be defenders as a series of one-handers dropped through the net.

From a concrete standpoint, when the Sixers take the court at the Wells Fargo Center for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal, they will be as close to an NBA title as they have been in seven seasons. But, in a holistic sense, it has been much longer since they were this alive. In 2012, when they took the Celtics to seven games in the second round, they were an eight seed that had entered the postseason with little hope of winning a ring. The best-case scenario had them losing to LeBron James’ Heat in the conference finals.

This year, the stakes are much different. In fact, it is possible to make a case that Thursday night’s showdown will be the biggest professional basketball game that this city has hosted since 2003, when the Sixers lost a decisive Game 6 to the Pistons in the conference semis. Last year at this juncture, they were down 0-2 by the time they took the court at home. They were immature and overmatched by a Celtics team that would finish one win shy of the Finals.

The Sixers’ 94-89 win over the Raptors in Game 2 was a strong suggestion that neither of those two things are still the case. The most-encouraging thing about the victory was the growth they displayed throughout. After watching Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam dominate in Game 1, there was plenty of reason to wonder whether the Sixers’ defensive struggles would hasten the end of a second straight postseason. But unlike a year ago, the Sixers adapted, and they did so in large part due to the efforts of their two young cornerstone talents. While Embiid and Ben Simmons combined for twice as many turnovers (10) as made baskets, their ability to match up against Siakam and Leonard gave Jimmy Butler just enough rope to lasso the win.

In an evenly-matched series, every game can feel like a bellwether. There is no reason to think that Game 3 will be any different. Over the last seven quarters, the score is 158-158, and that’s as sure a sign as any that this series will be decided at the margins. The Raptors have the best player on the court -- if not in the league -- and that’s a significant variable this time of year. The Sixers spent the second half of Game 2 hanging on for dear life, as Leonard poured in 20 points. As well as they played on the defensive end, the end result still came down to a missed open three-pointer by the Raptors’ most reliable shooter from that distance. From a probability standpoint, the Sixers should fear some positive regression to the mean from Danny Green and Kyle Lowry, who are a combined 4-for-20 from three-point range in the series.

On the flip side, the Sixers should get a big boost from the return of Scott, who spent the first two games of the series in a walking boot with a foot injury that he suffered late in Round 1. The two players who were forced into action in his absence — Furkan Korkmaz and Jonah Bolden — are a combined 3-for-11 from three-point range. Scott was noncommittal when asked about his status for Game 3, but, barring a setback, all signs point to a return.

Yet the Sixers biggest reason for hope remains the big fella. Unlike Leonard, who is already playing as well as one can reasonably expect him to play, Embiid has been nonexistent as a scorer. With all due respect to James Ennis — and he deserves plenty of it thus far — it is remarkable to consider that he has made one more bucket than Embiid. In a weird way, though, it is also encouraging, particularly given what we saw out of Embiid in the fourth quarter of Game 2. His ability to get to the rim against Marc Gasol with 24 seconds left was one of the climactic moments of the victory. A couple of minutes before that, he made a tremendous pass out of a double team to find an open Butler for a three-pointer. In the last nine minutes of the third quarter, he drew two shooting fouls and got to the rim for a bucket.

Embiid finished with eight points in his last 15 minutes of action, after scoring just 20 in his first 47 of the series. In both Games 1 and 2, the Sixers had a positive point differential when Embiid was on the court. On the series, Embiid is plus-7. The rest of the Sixers starters are minus-5 (Simmons), minus-11 (JJ Redick), minus-16 (Butler), and minus-17 (Tobias Harris).

The fact that the Sixers need more out of Embiid is encouraging in the sense that he clearly has more to give. The stage is set. The stakes are clear. The day is Thursday night.