Despite the absence of star point guard Fred VanVleet, the Raptors prevailed, 103-88 to bring the series back to Canada for the second time. Toronto, however, will again face elimination Thursday night in Game 6 of the series.

Toronto is trying to get first in NBA history. So far no team has advanced to the next round after losing the first three games of the 4-7 series.

Pascal Siakam, who experienced a difficult third game for the Raptors, was again the best of his men, as in the fourth duel. He gave up 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

Regularly battling Joel Embiid, reserve Precious Achiuwa had an impressive outing for the Torontonians with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Gary Trent Jr. also contributed. and OG Anunoby with 16 points each.

The Sixers center, the NBA’s scoring champion this season with an average of 30.6 points, had another game that was less than expected with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Embiid played despite a ligament rupture in his right thumb.

Former 2018 league scoring champion and most important player James Harden was underweight in the game with 15 points and 7 assists.

The two teams never really started out. The Sixers passed just 27% of their shots (10 for 37) versus 25.8% for the Raptors (8 for 31). But the Torontonians did well on the move and in the bottle to leave Philadelphia with a second straight win.

The Celtics are sweeping the Nets

Unlike the 76ers with the Raptors, the Boston Celtics didn’t let the Nets find a second wind in their series. They finished the job in four games on Monday night, despite the last breath from Kevin Durant.

The Nets winger scored 39 points, in addition to grabbing 7 rebounds and providing 9 assists, but it wasn’t enough against the Celtics ’combined strength.

Jayson Tatum (29), Jaylen Brown (22) and Marcus Smart (20) scored at least 20 points for the Celtics when they avenged their first -round loss last year against both Nets.

Boston was the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs.