The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors 123-112 on Thursday night in Philadelphia, and the Raptors vs 76ers story for Toronto is RJ Barrett: 31 points, 14 rebounds and five assists on 13-of-20 shooting, the game high, in a loss that wasted a 17 point first half lead. Barrett’s line is the headline because it came with everything attached, scoring, glass work and playmaking, on a night when Toronto needed all three.
Toronto falls to 5-7 with a third straight defeat, while Philadelphia improves to 10-3 near the top of the Eastern Conference. The Raptors led 33-24 after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 17 in the first half, then watched the 76ers take the game away with back-to-back 36-27 quarters after the break, in a game that saw 25 lead changes and nine ties, as NBC Sports Philadelphia tracked live.
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RJ Barrett 31 Points: The Full Line
Barrett played 37 minutes and shot 13-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three point range. His 14 rebounds led Toronto and matched one of the best rebounding nights of his career, one short of his career high, and he added five assists against three turnovers. Immanuel Quickley was the only other Raptor close to that level, with 26 points, four rebounds and six assists.
For Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points with eight assists and Joel Embiid added 20 points, in a game the 76ers played without LeBron James, who sat out to manage a back problem. Six 76ers reached double figures, per the Field Level Media game report, which is the structural difference in the box score: Toronto’s night ran through two players, Philadelphia’s ran through its whole rotation.
How A 17 Point Lead Got Away
The first quarter was Toronto’s best basketball of the week: 33 points, Barrett scoring in runs, and a lead that peaked at 17 with under two minutes left in the quarter. Philadelphia cut it steadily, tied the game at 85 in the third quarter, and closed that period with an 11-2 run that flipped control for good. Philadelphia shot 52 percent from the floor across the night and closed with a composed final period, while Toronto’s offence cooled after its hot first quarter.
The pattern is the concern for Toronto. This is a third straight loss, and it follows the record lead Toronto blew against Boston the night before, a second strong start dissolved in two nights. The Barrett performance argues the top of the roster is not the problem: a Canadian star just produced a 31 and 14 night on 65 percent shooting on the road. The problem is everything that has to hold around a line like that for 48 minutes.
What This Means For The Raptors
At 5-7, Toronto leaves Philadelphia with a clear individual bright spot and a clear team question. Barrett’s season is building toward the best all-around stretch of his career, and nights like this one, where he leads his team in points and rebounds while creating for others, are becoming his standard rather than his ceiling.
The Raptors need the rest of the rotation to meet him there. Philadelphia, at 10-3 and second in the East, hosts Indiana on Sunday. Toronto’s task is simpler and harder: turn the next Barrett night into a win.
