76ers' Bench Stepped Up Right When Philadelphia Needed It Most

It may be safe to say that the Philadelphia 76ers have finally seen what their bench is capable of. 

In their matchup against the Toronto Raptors. The 76ers were without LeBron James, who was dealing with a back injury. This meant that everyone else had to step up and assume a bigger role. Many knew that the starters would do their part to hold down the fort, but it was quite a surprise to see the bench players help out in a major way. 

The first quarter started out how it always does, and it was starting to look like one of those games that the 76ers would play down to their competition. The quarter was filled with hero balls and players trying to get their own basket. This led to the Raptors getting 11 fastbreak points in that quarter. Once the second quarter rolled around, the bench took over and made this a game. 

The 76ers trailed by 17 points before the bench came in, and it took a small ball lineup consisting of Anfernee Simons, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dean Wade, VJ Edgecombe, and Jaylen Brown. With this lineup the 76ers went on two separate runs that helped erase the deficit. The first one was a 17-0 run that was sparked by Simons, who nailed a three-pointer to start the quarter. After a series of defensive stops and some heavy lifting by Brown offensively, the 76ers found themselves right back in the game.

The 76ers then went on a 23-7 run that had the Toronto Raptors up in arms defensively. But the Raptors wouldn’t go away quietly as they kept pace, and it led to a 60-60 tie at half. 

Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid handled business in the second half and helped the team take the lead as both finished the game with 27 and 20, respectively. The 76ers outscored the Raptors 63-57 with a few of the minutes played by the reserves late in the fourth quarter. 

VJ Edgecombe did a little of everything from scoring to defending. Edgecombe had 15 points, eight assists, eight rebounds, three steals, and one block. 

This team continues to defy the odds and find ways to come back from double-digit deficits. This is their fifth game winning a game they trailed by more than 10 points. The bench scored 37 points with two players finishing in double figures, including Simons, who led the bench with 17 on 6-of-9 shooting.

The bench gave this 76ers team life to overcome another rough first quarter. If this team can just find their stride, it’ll make things much smoother as the season goes on.