A lot has changed since February 2020.
In 2020, the Raptors’ entire championship roster was essentially intact, minus Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. Now, there’s nobody left. In 2020, we had no clue there was a pandemic
coming. Now, Zoom is just a part of our lives.
Tonight, however, the Raptors transported us back to 2020, accomplishing something that hadn’t been done for a half-decade: they got their ninth win in the last 10 games, staving off a near-comeback to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 121-112 at the Wells Fargo Center.
It was the Raptors’ fifth win in a row, giving them their best record in a 10-game span since February 2020, during their iconic title-defense season. (Notably, that 2019-20 team has the highest regular season winning percentage in franchise history.)
In Philadelphia Wednesday night, the team was propelled by a spread-out attack that saw six players score in double digits, and six players pick up four or more assists. They picked up 33 assists on 45 made shots!
The Raptors maintained a single-digit lead for much of the first half. But after pulling away with a monstrous, 44-26 third quarter, the Raptors let the Sixers come within three points thanks to a series of turnovers midway through the fourth.
But Immanuel Quickley didn’t let things go any further, earning him the chain. IQ was the main character in crunch time, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter and finishing with 18 points on 7/15 shooting, along with five rebounds, six assists and three steals. And he hit the dagger three that put the Raptors up seven with just over a minute left.
Other notable performances included the crisp interior passing between Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl. The duo’s chemistry has really popped as of late, and Barnes kept finding Poeltl on his cuts. Barnes finished with 16 points, nine boards and five assists; Poeltl scored 19 along with eight rebounds and four assists.
This game was also an extremely encouraging one for second-year player Ja’Kobe Walter, who finished with 11 points on 4/5 shooting and three steals, in addition to some high-motor defense.
Barnes was penetrating the defense and facilitating early on in the first quarter, leading to some nice looks like a Brandon Ingram corner three and, of course, an easy one for Poeltl off a no-look pass.
On the other end, the Raptors – who’ve struggled to defend high-level guards – had their hands full with the speedy Tyrese Maxey, who scored 12 in the first frame, and finished with 24 and nine assists.
Worth noting is that the Raptors ducked the oft-injured duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George, who had a rest day after making his season debut in the Sixers’ previous game. But the Sixers entered the game with a solid 8-5 record despite George having only played one game and Embiid six; their team is entering a new era led by young players like Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe, who put up 21 points. Philly also welcomed back second-year guard Jared McCain, who came off the bench and scored his first points of the season. The Raptors were without rookie Colin Murray-Boyles.
The Raptors held the Sixers at arms length for most of the second quarter, until a 9-0 run put the Sixers ahead 56-53 at the half. The run itself was discouraging, but the three-point deficit could have been much worse considering Toronto shot 2/15 on threes.
The Raptors started the second half with a bang, opening on a 10-2 run that included some more beautiful interior passing between Barnes and Poeltl. Gradey Dick came off the bench and played high-quality minutes, during which he made an excellent pass in the pick-and-roll to set up a Barnes touch pass to Poeltl for the bucket.
The Scottie-plus-bench lineup, with Sandro Mamukaleshvili, Dick, Jamal Shead and Walter, forced a few turnovers toward the end of the quarter, pulling away to a 96-80 lead that was their largest of the game.
After a Quickley three to open the Raptors’ fourth quarter scoring, the Sixers chipped away at the Raptors’ lead, bringing it from 100-85 to 103-98, and eventually 109-106. The Raptors let the Sixers back in it with a handful of bad pass turnovers, as well as some second-chance opportunities. (Philly grabbed four offensive rebounds on one possession, which ended with two points for Jabari Walker.)
Finally, up 111-108 with about three minutes left, the Raptors put their foot down. And boy, did they execute.
Their ensuing possessions ended with: a Quickley three, a Barnes dunk off a mismatch with Maxey, turnover, another Quickley three, and then a Brandon Ingram pass to Barrett to seal the game (sound familiar?) with a dunk, making it 121-112.
Barnes turned the ball over six times, but also did an excellent job operating out of the post, taking advantage of mismatches where he could bully his way toward the paint. Ingram, who finished with 22 points and five assists, shot an efficient 7/10 from the field and, as per usual, was continuously making the right play while drawing two defenders. RJ Barrett scored 22 points as well, and registered four assists.
The Toronto Raptors are rolling right now. The starters are gelling, the bench is deep and the execution down the stretch in clutch games is there. Having a scorer like Brandon Ingram has changed so much for this team’s offense, as it allows other players to capitalize on the attention he commands.
Meanwhile, Poeltl has found great pick-and-roll chemistry with his teammates, and appears to be on another plane of existence with Barnes.
The Raptors are now second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 10-5, and are entering a five-game stretch that includes four consecutive home games, and four games against the worst teams in the conference. They have a chance to put themselves in a great spot early on in the 2025-26 season.
Things looked slightly shaky midway through the fourth quarter for Toronto, when their lead was suddenly cut to just three. But if they can execute the way they did during the clutch minutes of this game — that bodes well for their chances at sustaining this success.
