TORONTO–Whenever a team pays a visit to Toronto in the playoffs, they have to deal with a lot. The Raptors are a tough team to play against as they continue to scramble around and bother teams, they have a passionate and loud crowd, and then there’s Drake on the sidelines chirping at you.
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid had to deal with all of that on Wednesday in Game 3. The Raptors got very physical with Embiid in order to frustrate him to just five points and four turnovers in the first half and he dealt with chants from the Raptors fans and he even had Drake in his ear.
“In the first half, Drake was over there saying ‘He can’t play here’,” said Tobias Harris. “I said ‘He can play here. For sure.’ For him to make that shot and just come out in the second half and really dominate is big.”
It all ended in a 104-101 overtime win for the Sixers as Embiid drilled a game-winning triple with 0.8 seconds left. He finished with 33 points and 13 rebounds in the win.
“I didn’t really hear him, but obviously, he’s always talking,” said Embiid. “Of course, I had to let him know. Obviously, we’re trying to get Game 4, go for the sweep. Tonight, we didn’t play our best basketball. I turned the ball over way too much and, as a team, we also did so those were the keys coming in. Taking care of the ball and offensive rebounding. We didn’t do that tonight.”
“Get your ass out, I’m coming for that sweep too” 😂😂😂
– Joel Embiid to Drake
(h/t @AhnFireDigital) pic.twitter.com/gotVu9EIWn— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 21, 2022
The Raptors were also very physical with Embiid. He even hurt his wrist in the win and he then turned to them after they had been complaining about the officiating to begin the series.
“They were also more physical today,” he said. “They’ve been complaining so much about officiating so I hope they were happy. We just gotta come in next game and take care of what we need to take care of.”
The Sixers will look to finish off the sweep against the Raptors and get Drake out of there on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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