Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid lead the Sixers in a dominant win over the Toronto Raptors
Maxey scored 31 points, Embiid added 29 as the Sixers pick up an emphatic win on a night they honored the 25th anniversary of their 2000-01 NBA Finals team.
Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points, Joel Embiid added 29 as the 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors 130-120 inside the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Trendon Watford had 20 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists for the Sixers, which entered having lost all four games to Toronto last season.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each scored 22 points for the Raptors, who saw their four-game win streak snapped. Toronto was playing the second contest of a back-to-back after beating Atlanta 109-97 on Friday night. Brandon Ingram chipped in 21 for the Raptors.
The Sixers took control by outscoring the Raptors, 35-20, in the second quarter after Toronto had surged to a 43-33 first-quarter lead.
Toronto got within 119-116 on Barrett’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 25 seconds to play. But the 76ers scored the next six points, on VJ Edgecombe’s layup, Kelly Oubre Jr.’s dunk, and Embiid’s follow on his own miss, to take a nine-point lead with 1:25 left.
The Sixers return to action on Sunday when they host the Detroit Pistons (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia).
Honoring the past
The Sixers picked up the win on a night they honored the 25-year anniversary of the 2000–01 Eastern Conference champion and NBA Finals team.
In the first of what’s scheduled to be a number of times this season, the team wore replica black jerseys from that era, and the court featured the colors and logo from that season in which Allen Iverson won the MVP, Larry Brown was named Coach of the Year, Dikembe Mutombo was tabbed as Defensive Player of the Year, and Aaron McKie picked up Sixth Man of the Year honors.