Embiid Went Down Holding His Knee. Then Toronto Pounced

Joel Embiid went down grabbing his right knee in the first quarter, and Toronto, one night after blowing a 22-point lead to Boston, ran out to a 17-point lead in Philadelphia. Here's what happened next. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors 123-112 at Xfinity Mobile Arena without LeBron James (low back/sciatica management). Embiid took a knee-to-knee hit from Ja'Kobe Walter at 8:39 of the first quarter, limped to the locker room and returned at 5:26, but Toronto built a 33-16 lead behind RJ Barrett's threes. Philadelphia answered with a 19-1 swing, including Anfernee Simons' buzzer-beating three, and VJ Edgecombe's dunk gave the Sixers the lead early in the second quarter. It was 60-60 at halftime and 85-85 late in the third before Tyrese Maxey led an 11-0 run. Jamison Battle's three cut it to six with 4:43 left; Simons, Embiid and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope answered. Maxey had 27 points and 8 assists, Embiid 20, Jaylen Brown 18, Simons 17 on 5-of-6 from three (+22) and Edgecombe 15, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Barrett had season highs of 31 points and 14 rebounds, and Immanuel Quickley scored 26. Philadelphia is 10-3; Toronto is 5-7 and has lost three straight. My take: Philly's bench won this game. Simons and Caldwell-Pope turned a 17-point hole into a lead. Who's Philly's real X-factor off the bench: Simons or Caldwell-Pope? Tell me in the comments. 00:00 Embiid goes down 00:37 The setup 01:54 Toronto up 17 03:17 The swing 04:49 85-85 05:53 Does it happen again? 07:12 My take 08:35 By the numbers 09:33 What's next 76ers, Raptors, 76ers vs Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Joel Embiid, Joel Embiid injury, Tyrese Maxey, Anfernee Simons, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, VJ Edgecombe, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Jaylen Brown, NBA highlights, Missed The Game