In the span of 12 minutes, the Raptors’ dreams of an historic playoff comeback turned into a nightmare.
The Philadelphia 76ers ran roughshod over disorganized Toronto with a massive third quarter Thursday, en route to a 132-97 rout that ended both the Raptors’ roller-coaster season and lofty hopes of becoming the first team in NBA history to win a series after trailing 3-0.
Chris Boucher had 25 points and 10 rebounds as one bright light on an otherwise awful night, and Pascal Siakam added 24 points for the Raptors, who lost the best-of-seven opening round series 4-2.
“Listen, they’re disappointed, for sure, pretty heavy air in [the locker room],” coach Nick Nurse said. “They’re disappointed. My message was that, as a whole, I thought we went through a tremendous amount this year with a number of things and we just kept fighting and kept playing and kept getting better and kept figuring things out. And it was never really smooth, right. There was always a big ol’ bump in the road.”
Gary Trent Jr. finished with 19 points, while rookie Scottie Barnes had 18 points for the Raptors, who were playing without all-star guard Fred VanVleet.
Joel Embiid, the seven-foot centre Raptors fans love to hate, had 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers, who won the series 4-2. They’ll face the Miami Heat in the second round.
“We weren’t going back to Philly for a Game 7,” said James Harden, who had 22 points and 15 assists.
WATCH l Raptors meet end of playoff run in blowout Game 6 loss to 76ers:
76ers eliminate Raptors in 6 games as Embiid, Harden lead the way
7 hours ago
Duration 0:48
Philadelphia beats Toronto 132-97 and takes the first round series 4-2. Joel Embiid scores game-high 33 points while James Harden adds 22 points and a game-high 15 assists. 0:48
The Raptors looked all but cooked after losing the series’ first three games, but won back-to-back elimination games, fuelling hope among fans of an historic series comeback victory.
Coming off a dominant 103-88 win on Monday, the Raptors kept it within seven points for the first half despite horrible shooting. But they never looked in synch on either end of the floor all night, and the Sixers blew the game wide open with a 30-9 run in the third quarter.
“Listen, congratulations to them, first of all. I thought they were certainly great in three of these games in this series, they were really great,” Nurse said of Philly. “They shot it, they passed it really well in three of the games and tonight was one of them.
“Obviously, we don’t guard at all in the second half, we can’t stop `em.”
The Sixers hit six threes in the third quarter, to the groans of the Scotiabank Arena crowd of 19,800 fans, and a Harden long bomb put Philly up by 22 points with 3:52 left in the frame. The visitors outscored Toronto 37-17 in the quarter, and led 99-78 to start the fourth.
A Barnes jumper less than a minute into the fourth slashed the difference to 18, but Embiid almost singlehandedly snuffed out any hopes of an improbable comeback, scoring 10 points in less than four minutes. And when Tobias Harris threw down a dunk with 4:34 to play, the basket put Philly up by 27 points.
“You’ve just got to be truly resilient through the process. Tonight you saw that,” said Harris. “A full effort pretty much the whole game of how we wanted to play and just sticking through.”
Embiid celebrated Harris’s dunk by running up the court with his arms outstretched like an airplane — reminiscent of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals against Toronto. Boos rained down on the seven-foot centre.
Harris’s three with 3:38 to play saw the Sixers go up by 32 points, and sent numerous fans heading for the exits.
Raptors fans gathered in Jurassic Park, the fan zone outside Scotiabank Arena, react to Toronto’s elimination from the NBA playoffs on Thursday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Siakam fouled out of the game with 2:14 to play, and received a standing ovation as he left the game. The Scotiabank Arena crowd chanted “Let’s go Raptors!” as Nurse subbed off his starters at that point.
The Raptors shot just 7-for-35 — 20 per cent — from three-point range, and 39.3 per cent from the field. Philly shot 40 per cent from long distance and a whopping 58 per cent from the field.
Nurse praised Boucher, who had 11 of his points in the second quarter.
“When he gives that relentless energy like that, he can make a lot of good things happen,” Nurse said. “He was cutting and flying around and rebounding, I think he had six offensive rebounds by himself in the first half. He had a block shot on the three, just using his gifts like that and doing it.
“So at least we got a huge night from him off the bench. Didn’t get much else off the bench tonight.”
Numerous Toronto athletes were on hand to witness the loss, including Maple Leafs Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, Alexander Kerfoot and Wayne Simmonds, Toronto FC’s Ayo Akinola and Ifunanyachi Achara, and former Raptor Cory Joseph.
Raps miss injured VanVleet
The Raptors sorely missed the steady hand of three-point specialist VanVleet, who sat his second straight game with a strained left hip flexor. The Raptors struggled from long distance all series. Nick Nurse kept saying they were due for a big three-point shooting game.
“They’re going to start going in, I keep saying that,” Nurse said after Wednesday’s practice. “Next game will be as good as any for them to start going in.”
It wasn’t to be.
The Raptors’ loss ended a season that began with low expectations, saw them play for several weeks in Toronto in a virtually empty arena due to COVID-19 restrictions, but picked up momentum after the all-star break when the Raptors won 14 of their final 18 games.
With their win in Philly on Monday, the Raptors became the 14th team — and first since Milwaukee in 2015 — to force a Game 6 after trailing 3-0. The Bucks went on to lose 4-2 to Chicago. In the league’s 75-year history, 146 teams have faced 3-0 deficits in seven-game series.
The Raptors were looking to become the fourth NBA team to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0.
The Raptors hit seven of their first eight shots, then went more than five minutes without a field goal, missing 10 straight shots. Harden, who had just 15 points in Game 5, had 10 in the quarter, and the Sixers led by seven a couple of times. Philly was up 34-29 to start the second.
A Boucher three-pointer highlighted a 15-5 run to start the second that saw the Raptors go up by five. Green had four three-pointers and 12 points in the quarter as the Sixers battled back, and led 62-61 at halftime.
The Raptors shot just 3-for-15 from long distance in the first half.
The Sixers were without Matisse Thybulle, who isn’t eligible to travel to Toronto because he’s not fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
-scaled.jpg)
