Menu Close

Jimmy Butler, Sixers hold off Raptors in Game 2 to even series

Adrian Fedkiw|

Jimmy Butler had the answer – EVERY TIME!

Got buckets?

Butler had 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and helped the Philadelphia 76ers hold off the Toronto Raptors 94-89 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

That wasn’t Jimmy tonight, that was James, according to Sixers head coach Brett Brown.

Despite a night where James Ennis was the team’s second-leading scorer with 13 points, the Sixers were still able to tie the series at 1-1 due to the defensive wizardry of Brown and an overwhelming 53-36 advantage on the glass. There was more of an emphasis in clogging the paint and all of the driving lanes that were easily navigated by Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam in Game 1 weren’t there as often in Game 2.

There was a critical moment in the fourth with about eight minutes to go and the Sixers holding an 83-73 cushion when Joel Embiid exited needing a rest. Amir Johnson and James Ennis came in temporarily and with the lead suddenly at 83-78, Leonard had a chance to get Toronto closer but missed near the rim and Butler scored at the other end. After Siakam hit a triple, Joel Embiid fought through a double team to flip out a pass to Butler for a right wing 3 and an 88-81 lead with just over two minutes to go.

Joel Embiid battled gastroenternitis in Game 2 and while he did provide an impact on the defensive side of the floor, he was just 2-of-7 offensively and scored just 12 points. If you’re wondering what gastroenteritis is, let’s let Embiid tell ya.

A pair of Butler free throws staked the Sixers to a seemingly comfortable 90-84 edge, but a 3 from Kyle Lowry and a Siakam bucket suddenly trimmed the gap to 90-89 with 46.7 ticks on the clock.

That’s when JoJo finally put his imprint on the game. With the shot clock running down, Embiid pump faked from the top of the arc before beginning to drive to the basket. He then spun prior to stepping through, pumping to get a pair of defenders in the air and converting the layup for a 92-89 Sixers advantage with 24.3 seconds remaining.

Danny Green missed a 3 at the other end and Tobias Harris sunk a pair of clinching free throws.

Leonard still got his, he put up 20 of his 35 after the break and finished 13-of-24 from the field. Siakam poured in 21, but wasn’t as efficient and concluded his night 9-of-25 from the floor.

Harris had just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, Simmons chipped in with just six on only six attempts and J.J. Redick scored just 11. It was not the Sixers’ night offensively, which is an encouraging sign moving forward being able to win a game despite lackluster showings from your core players. And let’s remember this was also a team Leonard had never lost to in 14 tries prior to Monday’s game.

That defense and a 33-12 rebounding advantage helped the Sixers build a 51-38 halftime margin, but it could’ve been much higher had it not been for the 13 turnovers they committed. Philly went 0-of-11 from long distance and Leonard netted 11 in the third, which allowed Toronto to whittle the deficit to 69-63 heading into the fourth where the margin obviously got even tighter.

Game 3 is set for 8 p.m. Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here.

Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.