Pascal Siakam’s Playoff Career-High Helped The Raptors Win Game 4 And Extend Their Series Against Philly

Despite losing Fred VanVleet during the second quarter with a hip injury and Scottie Barnes dealing with the ankle injury that has hobbled him since Game 1, the Toronto Raptors were able to take their first game off of the Philadelphia 76ers and avoid a sweep. Thanks to the best performance that Pascal Siakam has had all postseason, Toronto picked up a 110-102 win to shift the series back to Philadelphia.

Siakam was the story of the game, scoring a playoff career-best 34 points on the evening. While he’s had some struggles going up against Joel Embiid and the Sixer defense in the first three games of the series, Siakam carried the Raptors, particularly during the fourth quarter, in which he scored 15 points to help get Toronto over the line.

Gary Trent Jr. provided a second scoring punch for the Raptors, with 17 of his 24 points coming in the first half. In an unexpected twist, Toronto received quite the boost off the bench from Thaddeus Young. While he’s been quiet for much of the series, Young played 30 minutes off the bench and filled the box score with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block.

The big, outstanding question for Toronto revolve around VanVleet, who ripped his jersey as he left the floor in the first half due to his hip, and Barnes, who played 26 minutes despite aggravating his ankle injury but did not quite impact the game as he can.

The issue that exists for Philadelphia, though, is that Embiid’s issues with his right thumb were apparent during the game, and while he had 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists, the MVP finalist favored his hand on numerous occasions during the game. There were also moments where Embiid was visibly frustrated, and after the game, he appeared to sarcastically clap at the officiating crew for their performance on the day.

While James Harden had a productive game — 22 points, nine assists, five rebounds — he struggled with efficiency, going 5-for-17 from the field and 2-for-10 from three. The Sixers did get a double-double out of Tobias Harris, who went for 15 points and 11 rebounds. And after the game, Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers was critical of his team’s performance, saying that he did not believe they deserved to win and punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Game 5 between the Sixers and Raptors will take place on Monday evening at 8 p.m. ET on NBA TV.