Jimmy Butler of Philadelphia escapes the defense of Toronto’s Kyle Lowrie in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. | AP photo
TORONTO — Jimmy Butler had 30 points and 11 rebounds, James Ennis scored 13 points and the Philadelphia 76ers held on to beat the Toronto Raptors 94-89 on Monday night, (Tuesday morning, Philippine time) evening their Eastern Conference semifinal series 1-1.
Game 3 is Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Down 19 in the first half, Toronto cut the deficit to one late in the third, then went cold to start the fourth, missing six of its first seven shots.
The Raptors kept coming, however. Lowry made 3-pointers on both sides of a pair of foul shots by Butler cutting it to 90-87 with 1:36 to go. Toronto got the ball back, and Siakam scored on a layup to make it a one-point game, but Joel Embiid answered with a driving shot at the other end, restoring the three-point advantage with 24 seconds left.
After Lowry nearly turned the ball over, Danny Green missed a potential tying 3, and Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris came up with the rebound, his 11th. Harris was fouled and sealed it by making a pair with 3.9 seconds left.
Embiid scored 12 points in 32 minutes despite missing the morning shootaround because of flu-like symptoms.
Kawhi Leonard scored 35 points, Siakam had 21 and Lowry 20. Toronto shot 10 for 37 from 3-point range and 33 for 91 overall as its franchise-record five game postseason winning streak came to an end.
Toronto missed six of its first eight shots, matching the number of misses it had in the first quarter of Game 1, when the Raptors made 16 of 22. Toronto shot 7 for 24 in the first and missed its first seven from 3-point range before Norm Powell connected.
Butler scored six points for Philadelphia, who led 26-17 after one. Toronto got 17 from both Leoonard and Siakam in the first quarter of Game 1, when they scored 39 points.
Ennis and Butler each scored seven points in the second and Philadelphia led 51-38 at the half. Four of Butler’s came on a five-point possession for the 76ers that saw Green called for a technical after fouling Butler on a made 3-pointer, and JJ Redick making the technical foul shot.
Leonard scored seven more as Toronto used a 13-4 run out of the break to cut the gap to 55-51. Leonard had 11 points in the third and Siakam had seven. Toronto trailed 61-60 with 2:50 left in the quarter but Embiid made four free throws before the quarter ended and the 76ers took a 69-63 lead to the fourth.
Philadelphia shot 0 for 11 from 3-point range in the third, but Jonah Bolden stopped the drought with a 3 to begin the fourth. /bmjo
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