Philadelphia 76ers dominate Game 6 to force Game 7
With an up and down series for both teams, the Philadelphia 76ers dominated in Game 6 to force a Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors.
The Philadelphia 76ers were under much scrutiny after losing Game 5 125-89, however, after all the judgment the team came out pumping on all cylinders in a Game 6 112-101 win. Although the end score differential is only 11, the game itself shows the Sixers dominated.
Not only did the Toronto Raptors take the lead just once, but their largest lead was only by two while the Sixers’ was by 24 points. Not only did this Philadelphia team step up to stay alive in the series but they showed if they can continue to play like this they’ll be a real threat in the next round.
Once again, Jimmy Butler proved his worth as a player and as a Sixer, leading the team scoring was with 25 points going 9-18 from the field and a perfect 7-7 at the line.
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He wouldn’t stop there either, leading the team in assists and steals for the game with eight and two. Simply put Butler has been balling out in the playoffs and may have earned himself a max contract.
The next leading scorer for the Sixers was Ben Simmons, who finally stepped up this series. Before this game, Simmons only had at most 10 points in the series, making him a pivotal player to blame. However, that was not the case in Game 6 as Simmons went on to put up 21 points on 69.2 shooting percentage from the field. He even took six free throw attempts, although he only made three of them it’s an improvement after not going to the line much all series. Simmons would also have eight rebounds and six assists showing his ability to be an all-around player.
The next player to highlight is Joel Embiid, who stepped up this game after being sick in the game before. The star big man managed 17 points with a team-leading 12 rebounds and eyebrow-raising 40 Real Plus-Minus. Embiid’s importance was highlighted in a John Clark from NBC Instagram quote stating “Sixers have outscored Toronto by 80 points when he (Embiid) has been on the floor in this series. Sixers are being outscored by 97 points when he’s not on the floor.”
One player that had an interesting performance was Tobias Harris, who managed to score 16 points but went 2-8 from deep and only had a 35.3 all around shooting percentage. Although he did also have nine rebounds and five assists providing the team with help. Still, Harris needs to be more consistent shooting especially since as a Sixer he finished the regular season with a 46.9 shooting percentage.
The player with the most efficient scoring effort was Mike Scott who went 4-5 for 11 points and 3-4 from deep in 20 minutes. Scott would also have a 29 RPM, the second best on the team proving his worth off the bench. James Ennis III also proved some worth off the bench collecting eight rebounds and having a 13 RPM.
The last player to look at is J.J. Redick, who just managed 11 points and only made four total shots. Redick would also go 3-10 from deep with one rebound and assist to his name. Simply put Redick has to hit his shots and be more efficient in Game 7. The Sixers can’t hope for his slack to be picked up by someone else in such an important game.
The Philadelphia 76ers showed up to Game 6 ready to win and did just that. Not only did the Sixers players step up scoring-wise having six players with double digits, but on defense also. The Raptors were silenced for the most part on offense having only three players put up double digits. It’s no secret that this series has been up and down for both teams, but now it comes down to one final Game 7 to decide who will move on to the Eastern Conference Finals.