76ERS ROUT RAPTORS FOR 2-1 SERIES LEAD,
PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid had knocked the air out of Toronto by the time he punctuated a Game 3 victory with a windmill dunk. Embiid sprinted down the court with his arms stretched out like airplane wings, and the Philadelphia 76ers are flying high in the postseason.
Embiid refused to get tripped up back in Philly, scoring 33 points and playing to “MVP!” chants to lead the Sixers to a 116-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
“When I have fun, my game just changes,” Embiid said. “I’m always told if I don’t smile during the game it means I’m having a bad game or I’m not into it. I know to get my game going, I’ve got to have fun on the court.”
Embiid also had 10 rebounds, shaking off a pair of passive games and becoming the driving force on offense the Sixers needed as they chase their first NBA championship since 1983.
He made the game his own in the third quarter and helped the Sixers put away a Raptors team badly overmatched outside of Kawhi Leonard.
Embiid struck a chord when he buried a 3 in the third that stretched Philadelphia’s lead to 12. That was the start of a string of plays that got Toronto’s attention. Embiid chased a loose ball and was tripped when Pascal Siakam intentionally stuck out his right leg and sent Philly’s All-Star tumbling to the court. The crowd went wild and Siakam was hit with a flagrant foul. Embiid made both free throws as fans — including some of Philadelphia’s biggest sports stars — serenaded him with chants of “MVP! MVP!”
Jimmy Butler, the Game 2 standout, dunked off his own steal and the Sixers had quickly put the game out of reach. Butler had 22 points.
Leonard scored 33 points, and Siakam added 20.
“I think we got outplayed in just about every area we can get outplayed,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen this team play that way.”