Maxey dominant as Sixers rout Raptors 112-90

TORONTO – Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 44 points as the Philadelphia 76ers routed the Toronto Raptors 112-90 on Friday.

Pascal Siakam led Toronto (3-3) with 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. OG Anunoby added 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

All-star point guard Fred VanVleet struggled with his shooting all night, going 0 for 11 from field-goal range, including eight missed three-pointers, with his one point coming on a free throw.

Maxey’s explosive performance for the 76ers included a career-high nine three-pointers as well as eight rebounds and four assists.

His output made up for the absence of all-star centre Joel Embiid’s late scratch from the Philadelphia (2-4) lineup.

Toronto had topped the Sixers 119-109 on Wednesday in the first of their back-to-back games.

Toronto trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter, but Siakam made a three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left in the period to tie the game 26-26. Maxey was relentless, however, and his floating jump shot beat the buzzer for his 14th point of the quarter and to re-establish Philadelphia’s lead.

Maxey didn’t miss a single shot in the first half, going 10 for 10 on field goals, including seven three-pointers, as the Sixers pulled away to a 65-48 lead by intermission. Siakam led Toronto with 18 points in the half.

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Anunoby brought the sellout crowd of 19,800 at Scotiabank Arena to its feet with 4:09 left in the third quarter when his emphatic dunk cut Philly’s lead to 70-64. He’d started the play when he stripped Harden just over centre and broke out on his own for the highlight-reel jam.

VanVleet scored his first point of the game on a free throw with 3:04 left in the third. His second free throw free throw rimmed out, though, as his shooting struggles continued.

Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr. scored six points in the fourth quarter to finish with 14 and forward Chris Boucher added five to finish with eight. With the game well out of hand, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse started putting his reserves out.

EMBIID OUT — Embiid was scratched from Philadelphia’s lineup 30 minutes before tip-off on Friday because of a sore right knee. A five-time All Star and the reigning NBA scoring champion, Embiid is averaging 27.6 points and 10 rebounds in five games.

OTTO OUT — Veteran shooting guard Otto Porter Jr. missed the game for personal reasons. The 29-year-old off-season signing has yet to make his Raptors debut and head coach Nick Nurse said on Thursday he will be “out for a bit.”

UP NEXT — The Toronto Raptors have the weekend off but will return to action on Monday when they host the Atlanta Hawks. They last met last season when Toronto topped Atlanta 118-108 on April 5.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2022.