76ers even series after Butler’s 30
76ERS 94, RAPTORS 89
TORONTO — Jimmy Butler’s big game helped Philadelphia snap a lengthy losing streak in Toronto and, more importantly, brought the 76ers level in their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Butler had 30 points and 11 rebounds, James Ennis scored 13 points and the 76ers held on to beat the Raptors 94-89 on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, knotting the series 1-1.
It was Philadelphia’s first victory in Toronto since Nov. 10, 2012, snapping a 14-game losing streak.
“Everybody wants to paint the picture that we haven’t won here in however many years,” Butler said. “I’m just glad that we came out on top. We don’t care how many games we’ve lost, nothing like that.”
Butler scored 12 in the final quarter to help the 76ers withstand a late Toronto rally.
“He was just a tremendous rock,” Coach Brett Brown said. “He willed us to a lot of different situations. He was a stud.”
Butler scored 10 points in Game 1, when he shot 4 for 12.
“Jimmy Butler is a gamer,” Raptors Coach Nick Nurse said. “He wasn’t going to be quiet this whole series.”
Game 3 is Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Down 19 in the first half, Toronto cut the deficit to one late in the third, only to go cold to start the fourth, missing six of its first seven shots.
The Raptors kept coming, however. Lowry made three-pointers on both sides of two fre throws by Butler cutting it to 90-87 with 1:36 to go. Toronto got the ball back, and Pascal Siakam scored on a layup to make it a onepoint game, but Joel Embiid answered with a driving shot at the other end, restoring the three-point advantage with 24 seconds left.
After Lowry nearly turned the ball over, Danny Green missed a potential tying three, and Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris came up with the rebound, his 11th. Harris was fouled and sealed it by making two free throws with 3.9 seconds left.
“We got lucky there at the end,” Brown said.
Embiid scored 12 points in 32 minutes despite missing the morning shootaround because of flu-like symptoms. Brown said Embiid received intravenous fluids before the game.
“Full credit all over the place to Joel,” Brown said.
Embiid acknowledged feeling rough, but refused to sit out.
“There’s no way I was missing this game,” he said. “This game was really important to us. It doesn’t matter what I had, I was going to play.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 35 points, Siakam had 21 and Lowry 20. Toronto shot 10 for 37 from three-point range and 33 for 91 overall as its franchise-record five game postseason winning streak came to an end.
Toronto missed six of its first eight shots, matching the number of misses it had in the first quarter of Game 1, when the Raptors made 16 of 22. Toronto shot 7 for 24 in the first and missed its first seven from three-point range before Norm Powell connected.
Butler scored six points for Philadelphia, who led 26-17 after one. Toronto got 17 from both Leonard and Siakam in the first quarter of Game 1, when they scored 39 points.
Ennis and Butler each scored seven points in the second and Philadelphia led 51-38 at the half.
Leonard scored seven more as Toronto used a 13-4 run out of the break to cut the gap to 55-51. Leonard had 11 points in the third and Siakam had seven. Toronto trailed 61-60 with 2:50 left in the quarter but Embiid made four free throws before the quarter ended and the 76ers took a 69-63 lead to the fourth.
Embiid only attempted one shot in the first half, a missed three-pointer at 8:39 of the second.
Philadelphia had 13 turnovers in the first half, leading to 18 points for the Raptors. They finished with 20, leading to 24 points.
PHILADELPHIA (94)
Butler 9-22 8-8 30, Harris 3-11 2-2 9, Embiid 2-7 8-8 12, B.Simmons 3-6 0-0 6, Redick 4-10 1-1 11, Ennis III 4-10 3-5 13, Bolden 1-3 0-0 3, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Monroe 4-7 2-2 10, Marjanovic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-76 24-26 94.
TORONTO (89)
Leonard 13-24 6-7 35, Siakam 9-25 1-2 21, Gasol 1-6 2-2 5, Lowry 7-17 4-4 20, Green 1-8 0-0 3, Powell 1-3 0-0 3, Ibaka 1-5 0-0 2, VanVleet 0-2 0-0 0, Meeks 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-91 13-15 89.
Philadelphia… ......... 26 25 18 25 — 94 Toronto… ............... 17 21 25 26 — 89 3-Point Goals—Philadelphia 10-35 (Butler 4-10, Ennis III 2-6, Redick 2-8, Bolden 1-3, Harris 1-5, Embiid 0-3), Toronto 10-37 (Leonard 3-10, Lowry 2-6, Siakam 2-7, Powell 1-1, Gasol 1-4, Green 1-6, Ibaka 0-1, Meeks 0-1, VanVleet 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Philadelphia 53 (Butler, Harris 11), Toronto 36 (Leonard, Gasol, Siakam 7). Assists—Philadelphia 22 (Embiid, Butler, B.Simmons 5), Toronto 20 (Leonard 6). Total Fouls—Philadelphia 18, Toronto 22. Technicals—Toronto coach Nick Nurse, Green. Attendance—19,800 (19,800).