Short-handed Raptors fall into 0-2 hole as 76ers dominate on home court

Joel Embiid had 31 points and 11 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the undermanned Toronto Raptors 112-97 on Monday in Philadelphia to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Pascal Siakam had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto. Fred VanVleet scored 20 points and Chris Boucher finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

The best-of-seven series now heads to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday, the first time Scotiabank Arena has hosted playoff basketball since Game 5 of the NBA Finals in 2019.

WATCH | 76ers run past Raptors to take 2-0 lead:

In one of their worst games all season, the Raptors looked little like the team that took three of four games off Philadelphia in the regular season.

Toronto got off to a strong start and led by a point at the end of the first quarter, but then went ice cold, missing 14 consecutive field goals in a dry spell that straddled the second and third quarters.

When Embiid knocked down a three-pointer late in the third, the Sixers went up by 27 points to the delight of the noisy Wells Fargo Arena. Philly took a 95-71 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The Raptors finally showed some life in the fourth, slicing the difference to just 11 points with a 15-0 run punctuated by an Anunoby three-pointer. The Sixers hit back though and when former Raptor Danny Green drove to the hoop for a dunk, Philadelphia was back up by 19 with 4:18 to play.

VanVleet knocked down a three with 1:12 to play that made it a 12-point game, but Toronto couldn't get the deficit to single digits.

Trent averaged 18 points against Philadelphia in the regular season, but struggled mightily on Monday. He was held without a point and committed four fouls before calling it a night and heading to the