Can the Raptors really steal this series?

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Less than a week ago, the Toronto Raptors were on the verge of extinction. A pair of blowout losses in Philadelphia followed by a home overtime defeat plunged Canada's only NBA team into a 3-0 abyss in its first-round playoff matchup against the favoured 76ers. No NBA team has ever come back from that deficit to win a series. And with NBA rookie of the year Scottie Barnes out with a sprained ankle and all-star Fred VanVleet hobbled by his own injury, no one gave the Raptors a chance to become the first.

But the tables have turned. The Raptors got Barnes back for Game 4 and despite VanVleet exiting early when his hip conked out, staved off elimination with a 110-102 win. Then they marched into Philadelphia last night as a 3-to-1 underdog and smothered the Sixers, 103-88.

As the series shifts back to Toronto for Game 6 on Thursday night, you can sense everyone on both sides suddenly wondering: wait, could the Raptors actually pull off the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history?

The odds are still not in Toronto's favour — Philly is a slight favourite to win Game 6, and the updated series betting prices imply the Sixers have close to an 85 per cent chance of advancing. But here are some arguments an optimistic Raptors fan could make:

Philly's two best players may have hit the wall.

The Sixers are not a very deep team. When they packaged disgruntled Ben Simmons with two players and two draft picks to acquire James Harden from Brooklyn in February, they made a bet that combining the former NBA MVP with current MVP finalist Joel Embiid would be enough to overcome a thin