PHILADELPHIA - Pascal Siakam scored 23 points, Precious Achiuwa had 17 and the Toronto Raptors forced a return home for Game 6 in their Eastern Conference first-round series against Philadelphia, beating the 76ers 103-88 on Monday night.Yo, Canada!
Once holding a 3-0 series lead, the 76ers are headed back north.The Raptors have won two straight in the series and jumped all over injured Sixers center Joel Embiid and ineffective James Harden to make Thursday night's game a necessity.Embiid had 20 points and 11 rebounds playing with a thumb injury.
Harden scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting.Sixers coach Doc Rivers is dragging the weight of ignominious NBA history with him through customs.
Rivers, who led Boston to the 2008 championship, is the only coach in NBA history to blow three 3-1 series leads. The Magic lost to Detroit in the 2003 Eastern Conference first round; the 2015 Clippers blew the series to Houston in the Western Conference semifinals; and in 2020, the Clippers lost to Denver in the West semifinals.The next season, Rivers was in Philly -- and the Sixers lost three games at home as the No.