Philadelphia 76ers own the fourth quarter to beat Toronto Raptors; Stay on the 7th spot in the East: NBA Recap
On Wednesday night, at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, Philadelphia 76ers defeated their hosts the Toronto Raptors 93-75. It was an important win for the Sixers who are trying to stay in contention for the playoffs.
Raptors went into the game with their leading scorer Andrea Bargnani absent from their line-up, due to a right calf injury. Bargnani has now missed two consecutive games now. This very same injury forced him to miss 27 games earlier
in the season.
Thaddeus Young led the scoring for the Sixers with 17 points off the bench. Reserves Lou Williams and Spencer Hawes also contributed 10 points each. Nikola Vucevic added 12 points, Elton Brand 11 points and Andre Iguodala also
contributed 10 points for Philadelphia.
Six players managed to score in double figures on the night. Jrue Holiday also had a significant role in the Sixers win as he contributed eight points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
For the raps, Alan Anderson and Ed Davis scored 13 points each, both tied at a team high. DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points, Gary Forbes contributed 10 points but as no other player managed to score in double figures.
The matchup between the two teams was a physical battle as both teams had the same number of rebounds, 42. However, the visitors managed to boss their way around inside the paint as they scored 58 points as compared to the Raps
20.
Philadelphia shot the ball over 50% from the field (53.2%) meanwhile only allowing Toronto to shoot 36.2%. Another key factor in this win for the Sixers was the overall distribution of the ball as they dished out 27 assists on
the night as compared to the Raptors who had 18 assists. This helped the Sixers in improving to 30-10 in games in which they have managed to notch up more assists than their opponents.
In the opening quarter of the game, the matchup was intense as it went end to end throughout. Both teams were managing to convert possession into baskets and after the first 12 minutes the scores were all tied a 20 each.
In the second quarter, it was the same case as no side looked to back down. Nevertheless, with the scores all tied at 36 each with 3:29 to go in the half, the Sixers managed to close the half out on a 6-1 run to open up a 5 point
advantage at the midway mark, 42-37.
The Sixers took the momentum of that run into the second half and started the third quarter on a 9-0 spurt to further extend their advantage. From then on the lead went to 14 and remained in double figures for several minutes but
the Raptors were not letting up as they pulled back to within 2 points.
The 76ers responded with two quick baskets from Hawes and Young to get back ahead by 6 points with 1:57 remaining in the third. This 6 point advantage remained after three quarters of game time had been played.
The lead was stretched up to double digits early in the fourth quarter and it remained the case for the rest of the game. Sixers outscored the Raptors 30-18 in the final quarter to take this one with a margin of 18 points.
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