Fred VanVleet, Raptors Pull Away from Ben Simmons, 76ers Late for Win

The Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors each entered Wednesday night's matchup riding a four-game winning streak.

The Raptors extended theirs to five games by defeating the Sixers 107-95 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.

The Sixers started hot from three-point range and built a 14-point lead in the first quarter only for it to evaporate. Toronto came back to level things at 50 entering halftime. The turning point, though, came when the Raptors strung together a 10-0 run to finish the third quarter. Philly struggled and ultimately failed to shift the momentum back in its favor.

The 30-14 Raptors were at full strength and improved to 2-1 against Philadelphia this season.

Toronto lost reserve guard Patrick McCaw to a facial contusion at the beginning of the second quarter. McCaw did not return and needed to undergo further evaluation.

Philly remained without All-Star center Joel Embiid, who suffered a torn ligament in a finger on his left hand earlier this month. Embiid has missed eight games. The 76ers are 5-3 in Embiid's absence and 29-17 overall.

Additionally, Starting guard Josh Richardson's night ended prematurely with a hamstring injury suffered in the first quarter. Richardson has already missed six games this season with hamstring tightness.

With the win, the Raptors kept their No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference standings behind the 39-6 Milwaukee Bucks and 30-13 Miami Heat.

Notable Performances

TOR G Fred VanVleet: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal

TOR F Pascal Siakam: 18 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

TOR G Norman Powell: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block

TOR C Marc Gasol: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

TOR G Kyle Lowry: 16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists

TOR F Serge Ibaka: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

PHI F Tobias Harris: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

PHI G Ben Simmons: 17 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals

PHI G Matisse Thybulle: 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals

Fred VanVleet's Clutch Gene Strikes Again

Gasol went a perfect 7-of-7 from the field (3-of-3 from three) in his fifth game back from a hamstring injury, and that appeared to be Toronto's silver lining from this game.

But then the Raptors ripped off a 10-0 run to end the third quarter and take a 76-72 lead. That run included two three-pointers from VanVleet. The 25-year-old Wichita State product just got hotter from there.

VanVleet bucketed nine fourth-quarter points to push the defending champs past Philly, including 30-foot and 28-foot three-pointers:

VanVleet, who somehow went undrafted in 2016, led a crew of Raptors that are capable of going off at any moment to compensate for Lowry being relatively quiet with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting (0-of-5 from deep). Ibaka and Powell combined for all of the Raptors bench's 34 points.

VanVleet's clutch outing against the Sixers came two days after he accounted for all eight of the Raptors' points within the final minute to hold off the Hawks 122-117.

The Raptors are truly at full strength for the first time since winning the 2019 NBA Finals, and this victory over Philadelphia was an important statement in gauging where they are in terms of contending again in 2020. The Sixers are the only plus-.500 team Toronto will face until the 28-16 Indiana Pacers visit on Feb. 5.

"At some point in the very near future, the Raptors will have to make a call based on how far they see this team going and whether or not they need help getting there," TSN's Josh Lewenberg wrote earlier Wednesday. "With the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, president Masai Ujiri, general manager Bobby Webster and the rest of Toronto’s front office are watching intently."

In the short term, the Raptors stand a great chance to extend their winning streak to 11 games against the 12-32 New York Knicks, 19-23 San Antonio Spurs, 10-34 Hawks, 12-32 Cleveland Cavaliers, 17-28 Detroit Pistons and 16-29 Chicago Bulls.

Sixers Forced to Lean into Depth Amid Injury Woes

Head coach Brett Brown had reserves Raul Neto, Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, Mike Scott and Norvel Pelle on the floor to begin the fourth quarter.

The 76ers avoided disaster, but it was indicative of a larger problem for Philadelphia.

This team is nowhere near as competitive without Embiid on the floor. Simmons has been excelling without Embiid to help bridge the gap, but that advantage was neutralized when Richardson was forced to leave early on:

Simmons still recorded a double-double and notched six assists in the first quarter, and Harris scored in double digits for the 10th consecutive game. However, the Sixers' injury concerns were made evident when Toronto held the team scoreless for nearly four minutes down the stretch. It didn't help that Thybulle was in foul trouble.

Plus, it could have been more about where Philadelphia was playing rather than who was unavailable to play:

Regardless, Brown is optimistic moving forward:

And he has reason to be. The true test as to how effective Philly's depth can be will come against the 35-9 Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, though.

What's Next?

The Raptors will begin a two-game road trip against the New York Knicks on Friday evening.

The Sixers will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.