The Toronto Raptors are down 3-2 in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series vs. the Philadelphia 76ers, but the Raptors have the momentum and are back at home for Game 6 on Thursday. Philly is a short favorite on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Sixers at Raptors NBA Odds & TV Info

• When: Thursday, 7 PM ET
• Where: Scotiabank Arena
• TV: NBA TV
• Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
• Radio: Tunein.com
• NBA Odds: Sixers -1.5 (total 209)

Why Bet on Philadelphia?

The Sixers looked like they absolutely didn’t care in a 103-88 home loss in Game 5 with a chance to end the series. James Harden continued to struggle, hitting 4-of-11 shots for just 15 points with seven assists and five turnovers in 40 minutes. Harden has hit just 25-of-67 shots in this series, good for just 37 percent and has scored a high of 22 points. Joel Embiid seemed to throw Harden and Coach Doc Rivers under the bus after the loss with Harden shooting just 11 times.

“I’ve been saying all season since he got here, he needs to be aggressive and he needs to be himself. That’s not really my job, that’s probably on coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots,” Embiid said. Especially, with the way the Raptors defend Embiid the Sixers need Harden him to be much more assertive on Thursday.

“We need James, but it’s not just scoring for us with James, it’s just playing,” Rivers said. “We showed him, he had the ball a ton. The most minutes in possession than anyone on our team by a longshot, but we got to be better at doing something with that and being more organized, having better space. With James, you got to work on spacing every day just so he can have the driving lanes and we’re doing that.”

Embiid played through his right thumb injury again Monday and hit 7-of-15 shots and 6-of-6 free throws for 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes.  Embiid plans on playing through the torn ligaments until the playoffs are over and will then have offseason surgery, as long as he doesn’t aggravate the injury before that happens. He picked up his fifth foul with just under six minutes left and the Sixers were unable to make a late push.

Because the series is back in Toronto, the Sixers will not have reserve guard and top perimeter defender Matisse Thybulle, who isn’t vaccinated for COVID. Thybulle struggled through an overall sluggish Game 5 effort by the Sixers, finishing with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting to go with two rebounds and one steal in 14 minutes off the bench. He hasn’t done much in the series but his absence makes the Philly bench that much shorter.

Adding to the general unease for Philly is the existence of Rivers as head coach, the only man to preside over squandering three separate 3-1 lead meltdowns. Some believe Rivers will be fired if Philly loses this series after leading 3-0 at one point. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs and won.

When asked what it will take to make things go differently in Game 6, Rivers pointed to the pace at which the 76ers played — particularly offensively — in the first two games and said Philadelphia will need to get back to that if it wants to close Toronto out and avoid returning for a do-or-die Game 7 on Saturday night.

Why Bet on Toronto?

Despite playing without All-Star guard Fred VanVleet in Game 5, the Raptors were simply the better team from the start. Pascal Siakam contributed 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He was the best player on the floor. Siakam was Toronto’s leading scorer for the third time this series.

Siakam has now scored 20+ points in four-of-five games this series and is currently averaging a team-best 22.6 points, while shooting .467 (42-90) from the field. Siakam ranks second in Raptors history with seven 20-point double-doubles in the postseason, behind only Kawhi Leonard (8).

Rookie Scottie Barnes accounted for 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals across 41 minutes. Barnes had a meager stat line in Game 4, just 26 minutes after missing Games 2 and 3. But he wasn’t limited at all in Game 5. OG Anunoby had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. He is putting up 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists on 49.1 percent shooting from the field and 35.6 percent from deep in the series.

Precious Achiuwa finished with 17 points and postseason career highs of seven rebounds and three blocks in Game 5 on Monday night. Achiuwa has led Raptors bench in scoring in three of five games this series, averaging 11.6 points while shooting .533 (24-45) from the field.

The Raptors held Philadelphia to .383 (31-81) shooting from the field in Monday’s victory and improved to 17-4 all-time in the playoffs when opponents shoot below 40 percent from the floor. Toronto has held the Sixers to .438 (103-235) shooting over the last three games, after Philadelphia shot .516 (79-153) from the floor in the first two games

Toronto scored 56 points in the paint, 20 more than the Sixers in the category. The Raptors’ bench outscored the Philadelphia reserves by a 29-11 margin.

VanVleet is listed as doubtful for Game 6 with his hip flexor. VanVleet earned his first All-Star selection this season, averaging career highs of 20.3 points, 6.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 65 games.

Game Trends

• 76ers are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games.
• 76ers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss.
• 76ers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss.
• Raptors are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
• Raptors are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
• Raptors are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog.
• 76ers are 0-4 ATS in the last 4 meetings.

Expert Prediction

• Raptors 107, Sixers 105

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