It was how good playoff games should be, dramatic and tense and full of some great plays and the odd gaffe, an emotional, hair-raising ride.
Just great sports drama as you would always hope for.
And a crushing defeat that took away from the brilliance of the night for the fans who created such a ruckus at the Scotiabank Arena.
Joel Embiid, cementing his role as the true villain of Toronto basketball, drilled an improbable three-pointer with less than a second remaining in overtime as the Philadelphia 76ers stole a 104-101 win from the Raptors to put Toronto’s season in true peril.
After a timeout with 2.6 seconds left in overtime and 9-10ths of a second left on the shot-clock, Embiid took an inbounds pass and sunk the Raptors, completing his 33-point night.
For Toronto, the need to even out the stretches of good play and bad play that are inevitably part of NBA games was vital, the way Raptors coach Nick Nurse saw it.
Extending the periods of above average execution and making the down stretches just bad instead of terrible was what the Raptors needed to accomplish.
And while they had extended periods Wednesday night when they were tremendous, there were just enough bad stretches to put their season on the brink.
A great start and prolonged periods of dominance were lost amid just enough poor play to allow the 76ers to record the win and take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series that continues here Saturday afternoon.
A bad third quarter — when they gave back all the gains of a tremendous first half to let the Sixers off the hook — doomed the Raptors, who must now do the next-to-impossible and win four straight playoff games after losing three in a row.
“We have these good segments and then the segments that aren’t so good,” a prescient Nurse said before the game. “We’ve got to stay nearly level. It’s been really up and down. We’ve had some good segments that we haven’t been able to extend for very long.”
It was precisely that on Thursday as Toronto charged out of the gate but couldn’t sustain it.
Embiid exploded for 18 points in the third quarter after being held to five in the first half as the Sixers found a way to escape some tremendous Toronto defense.
It set up some late drama, however, as the Raptors played a tremendous first half before stumbling into a thrilling finish.
Precious Achuiwa, who was excellent all night, missed two free throws in a tied game with 27.5 seconds left, giving the Sixers a chance to complete their comeback.
But Embiid inexplicably settled for a 25-foot step-back three-pointer that missed and Tobias Harris missed a little put back along the baseline to set up overtime.
The Raptors offense is not predicated on one player dominating, there is no real ‘go-to’ guy and it’s helped them exploit various mismatches and advantages most of the season.
It also means they don’t have to be reliant on one player having to carry the load.
“There’s not really a strict pecking order, anybody takes any shot as you’ve seen,” VanVleet said Wednesday morning. “We kind of just take whatever the game gives and the defense gives.”
Whether that matchup is Anunoby on a smaller player or Gary Trent Jr. on someone slower or Siakam on a wing, once the Raptors figure it out, they try to exploit it. It changes, though, game-to-game and sometimes quarter-to-quarter.
Anunoby, who was big in the second half of Monday’s Game 2, can often find good matchups to exploit but so, too, can his teammates and that Toronto can take advantage of the variety is what makes their half court offense tick.
“There’s a flow to the game, there’s a natural progression to the game and nobody’s holding anybody hostage, so whatever he gets to is what he gets to and that’s just how the games go,” VanVleet said.
The Raptors did find some balance on offense, both in scoring and shot distribution.
Five players were in double figures — Trent Jr. was outstanding in a 24-point performance — and Anunoby had 26.
“That’s another dynamic, whether it’s in the second half or the first half. I think as long as our best guys have good performances, we’ll be happy,” VanVleet said.
The Raptors did a great job limiting Embiid in the first half, holding him to five points while forcing him into committing four turnovers.
It didn’t last, however. Embiid exploded for 18 points in the third quarter as Toronto got away from what it had done so well.
“The trickiest defenses and the trickiest offensive players aren’t gonna be any good if you’re foundational stuff isn’t solid, anyway,” Nurse said before the game.
“Most of that stuff comes out of foundational principles, and I think we’ve got to do that stuff a little bit better.”
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