Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from dominant Game 5 win vs. 76ers

The Toronto Raptors won big in a pivotal Game 5 at home Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, 125-89. They lead 3-2 in the series.

Heading into Tuesday night’s Game 5 matchup, the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers were tied in their second round series, 2-2. With the rest of the matchup determined by a best-of-three series, the Raptors came out focused and relentlessly pursued a win at home. They will have an opportunity to close out the series Thursday night on the road in Game 6.

The Raptors came out with energy and were aggressive on both ends of the floor. They had six players in double-digit scoring, including all five of their starters. The team was led by the three-headed Cerberus of Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry. Leonard had his lowest scoring output in the series, but his second straight double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds, to go along with four assists and two steals on 7-of-16 shooting.

Lowry did most of his damage in the first half and had arguably his best game in the series, posting 19 points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block on 5-of-9 shooting. Siakam led all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including two makes from deep. He was the best player on both ends of the floor, with a +35 plus/minus. As a collective, no one on Toronto that played meaningful minutes (non-garbage time minutes) shot worse than 36 percent from the floor, as the team shot 40-for-82 from the field.

Jimmy Butler led the Sixers with 22 points, seven assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block on 6-of-16 shooting, going 10-for-11 from the charity stripe. Only two other starters were in double figures — Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid, who contributed 15 and 13 points, respectively. Harris was a team worst -34, while Ben Simmons and Embiid combined for 13 turnovers. Despite the majority of their starters shooting the ball well, it was a rough night for the 76ers collectively.

Both teams were competitive in the first frame as Philly was able to take the lead early. The Raptors’ Lowry and Siakam responded with energy on the offensive end, controlling the tempo and once they took the lead, they never looked back. The second quarter was a different tale, the Raptors outscored the Sixers 37-17, their largest margin in a quarter in the franchise’s postseason history. They were led by Danny Green‘s 3-for-3 shooting from deep, and at the half they found themselves up by 19.

The Sixers showed some life to start the third quarter, but it was to no avail as the Raptors’ determination to win was too strong. They built a lead too difficult for the Sixers to come back from, leading by as many as 40 points as both teams rested their main rotational players for the next game with seven minutes left to go in the fourth quarter. Here are the three big takeaways from Toronto’s dominant Game 5 win.