Undermanned Toronto Raptors turn up the defense to overwhelm Philadelphia 76ers and force Game 6

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These do or die games are bringing out the best in the Toronto Raptors.

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Extending the series to a fifth game at home was one thing, but getting it back home with a win on the road in that Game 5 against that Philadelphia team and that Philadelphia crowd was another level.

Pity the lone Raptors fan just behind the media section who had the gall to start up his solo ‘Let’s Go Raptors’ chant.

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He was shouted down immediately in typical Philly fashion with the response chant of “A%#hole’ that was soon the only sound you heard in the arena.

There wasn’t much chanting going on, however after the Raptors closed out an impressive 103-88 win

The Raptors would not be shaken from the task at hand.

From the opening tip try on picking up right where they left off in their Game 4 win.

The swarming defense as they packed the paint on drives and then recovered to shooters was on point.

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Twice on Monday Raptors head coach Nick Nurse made the point that while the team was down one very important body in point guard Fred VanVleet, for the first time in the series they really went into the game knowing three others could step up.

He was referring to knowing Gary Trent Jr. was all the way back from the illness that cost him the first two games as well as Thad Young and in maybe a bit of a surprise he singled out Precious Achiuwa as a guy he just felt had “ joined” the series in a big way.

Achiuwa then went out and gave Nurse 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench while spending a fair chunk of time battling the Sixers’ 280-pound behemoth Joel Embiid helping limit his impact.

Embiid would finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

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Tyrese Maxey, such a focal point of Philly’s wins in the first two games on their home court, was held to just two points in the first half.

He would finish with just 12.

Embiid, who the Raptors frustrated to no end in Toronto in Game 4 got it going a little with eight from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the line, but the Raptors never let him get in a rhythm. His scoring of him was sporadic and spaced out.

Offensively the Raptors had their best half of the series hitting over 50% of their shots even if the three-point shooting was down a bit at just under 30% as they built a 13 point lead at the half.

The key, though, was the second quarter when the Raptors’ defense limited Philly to just 14 points.

The Raptors were led in scoring in that first half by Scottie Barnes, who was a little more aggressive than in his first game back from that ankle sprain. His 12 of him were tops at halftime.

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But it was Pascal Siakam doing a little bit of everything for the Raptors in those first 24 minutes with eight points, six rebounds and four assists as the Sixers defense stayed locked in on him and he kept finding ways to make them pay for all that attention , that proved to be the ultimate difference.

Siakam would go off for 15 more in the second half to finish with a Raptors best 23. He fell just three assists for the triple double.

Siakam had his hands more full than usual without Fred VanVleet in the lineup.

That hip flexor strain he suffered in Game 4 proved to be too constraining, forcing VanVleet, the toughest Raptor, to keep out of the lineup regardless of condition, out of last night’s game.

Siakam and Barnes shared the point guard duties but it was primarily Siakam.

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When few gave the Raptors any chance at all in this game, Nurse had a very definitive reply to why he thought his Raptors weren’t quite done yet when asked pre-game.

“I think the biggest thing that I have seen is we’ve generated really good shots for most of the series, and we haven’t shot very well yet,” Nurse said. “I told the guys today, ‘Today would be a good day to go ahead and start making some of those open shots. If we can do that and generate them — I don’t know how it will look. Obviously we’ve got one of our best shooters out of the game (VanVleet) and a guy who creates a lot of those shots out of the game. Don’t know how it will look for a full 48 without him out there. I hope we can continue to generate shots and maybe get a little hotter from the perimeter.”

For the game the Raptors shot over 50% from the field for the first time all series. Nurse didn’t get the red-hot three-point shooting he thought might be coming, but turns out he didn’t need it.

Toronto’s defense made it unnecessary.

If there was one bit of negative news to come out Game 5 it was that Barnes appeared to be limping late in the game. That will get plenty of attention ahead of Game 6 back in Toronto on Thursday.