Los Angeles Times

Raptors testing Rivers’ bad luck

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Pascal Siakam gave a pregame pep talk to keep the Toronto Raptors calm in a hostile Philadelph­ia environmen­t where they already lost twice and fell into a playoff hole.

The message was simple: “Listen to our voices.”

The resilient Raptors are headed home, still with a chance to pull off an unpreceden­ted series comeback.

Siakam had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Raptors forced a return home for Game 6 in their first-round series, beating the 76ers 103-88 on Monday.

No team has blown a 3-0 advantage and lost a playoff series. But the Raptors have won two straight and jumped all over injured 76ers center Joel Embiid and ineffectiv­e James Harden, winning Game 5 without AllStar point guard Fred VanVleet (hip flexor strain).

Embiid had 20 points and 11 rebounds playing with a thumb injury. Harden scored 15 points on fourfor-11 shooting.

76ers coach Doc Rivers is dragging the weight of ignominiou­s NBA history with him through customs: He’s the only coach in to blow three 3-1 series leads. The Orlando Magic lost to Detroit in the 2003 first round; the 2015 Clippers blew a semifinal series to Houston; and in 2020, the Clippers lost to Denver in the semifinals.

The next season, Rivers was in Philadelph­ia — and the 76ers lost three games at home as the No. 1 seed and were eliminated in Round 2.

at Dallas 102, Utah 77: Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds, and the Mavericks, after squanderin­g their first game with their star back from injury, pushed the Jazz to the brink. Donovan Mitchell, who averaged 30 points in the first four games, scored just nine and missed all seven of his threes before limping off in the fourth quarter.

Boston 116, at Brooklyn 112: Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, and the Celtics completed a sweep of the Nets.

 ?? John Minchillo Associated Press ?? JAYSON TATUM blows a kiss to the Brooklyn crowd as the Celtics completed a sweep of what many thought could be a tough first-round series against the Nets.
John Minchillo Associated Press JAYSON TATUM blows a kiss to the Brooklyn crowd as the Celtics completed a sweep of what many thought could be a tough first-round series against the Nets.

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