Instant observations: Raptors knock off Sixers in overtime despite 38 from Tyrese Maxey

A solo starring effort from Tyrese Maxey was not enough in Toronto, where the Raptors outlasted the Sixers in a 116-115 overtime slugfest.

Here’s what I saw.

Not enough from anyone outside of Maxey

This wasn’t the sparkling, humiliate the opponent performance from Tyrese Maxey you would have expected they’d need to win with Joel Embiid and Paul George both scratched from the lineup. But in the circumstances, with the Raptors loading up middle and few offensive threats on the floor to aid him, a workhorse effort on “good enough” efficiency is something I am happy to settle for. In that way, it was a bit like a vintage Allen Iverson performance, where you ignored some early shooting swoons and trusted that he would drag you over the line one way or another.

It started, much like many of Iverson’s best scoring games, at the free-throw line. Maxey put a lot of physical pressure on Toronto at the rim, leading with his shoulder and swinging his arms through to highlight any and all contact from Toronto’s stunting wings in the corners. Without a traditional big man on the floor, the Raptors were always going to be susceptible to foul trouble in this game, and Maxey did excellent work to take advantage of it. He had a short jumper on a crisp step-through move, an insane reverse layup for an and-one, a midrange pull-up, and perhaps a few too many jumper attempts out of the post, where he struggled to connect while backing down defenders.

It continued, much like Iverson’s standard games, with a host of difficult midrange shots that improbably dropped or clanged off the rim depending on what part of the game we were in. And just like all great scorers, Maxey had enough dominant stretches across four quarters to string a good game together. The Sixers had an elite third quarter on the road Sunday night, with Maxey taking a buzzsaw to the Raptors in the middle portion of it.

And Maxey had a different running mate than normal to supplement his scoring: Kelly Oubre! Oubre was completely off the pace in the first two games of his return, forcing shots up and playing a level of defense below his usual standard. Sunday night’s game served as a welcome-back event for Oubre, who finally showed signs of the guy who helped the Sixers off to a hot start to begin the year.

The start of the third quarter opened with a personal 7-0 run for Oubre, who forced the Raptors to call one of the fastest timeouts of the season after he followed an early layup with a three. Thinking that a stoppage might slow Oubre and the Sixers down, the veteran wing ripped the Raptors on the ensuing inbounds pass, streaking down the floor for a dunk. He would make several other noteworthy contributions in the second half, including a highlight reel block on defense as the Sixers went on an extended run in the third quarter.

But in winning time, say it with me, the total dominance of Maxey was just like the No. 3 who wore those black jerseys many moons ago now. He hit a midrange jumper with 1:10 to play, smoked Scottie Barnes to score in isolation 20 seconds later, and banged what looked like a dagger three to put the Sixers up four with less than 20 seconds left. For a moment, there was life back in Philadelphia after a dispiriting Eagles loss on Sunday night:

https://t.co/Uj1MVIJPqX pic.twitter.com/yqZGpL0QVe

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 12, 2026

The bad news is that the Sixers managed to shoot zero free throws in that span, thanks to botched free throws and defensive rebounding, padding onto the theme, and providing the Raptors with a chance to win it in overtime. The Sixers had close to nothing going in the fourth quarter, with any possession that went away from Maxey ending in a late-clock attempt or a turnover. When he got his less than two minutes of rest to open the fourth, the team completely fell apart. Late in overtime, the Raptors sent two on the ball at Maxey, and the supporting cast (mostly VJ Edgecombe) could not capitalize.

A game for the rookie to learn from

If there was ever a process over results stretch for VJ Edgecombe, Sunday night’s first 24 minutes were it. The Sixers’ star rookie had one of his best passing halves of the season, moving the Raptors around the chessboard at will, and had very little to show for it. His ability to create good looks out of pick-and-roll possessions gets better with each passing game, and now he just needs teammates to take advantage of his manipulation.

Pick your type of pass, and you saw it from Edgecombe. There was a turnaround kick-out to the weakside corner; a drop-off in traffic right into the hands of Andre Drummond; perfectly timed swing passes that drew in a defender before releasing into space; even a laser or two that hit teammates in the hands (*cough* Adem Bona) before bouncing harmlessly out of bounds. He looked like a genuine point guard of the future, with only a single first-half assist to show for it.

It’s a good thing the passing was that good, because everything else was close to a disaster. He has become bolder as a pull-up shooter, but the results have been mixed, leaving him wanting from beyond the arc. With Toronto loading up in the paint against lineups with two and three non-shooters on the floor at a time, space to drive into was at a premium. And Edgecombe was arguably more disappointing on the defensive end of the floor, allowing several Raptors drivers to blow right past him for layups. I think there may have been some coverage confusion between Edgecombe and Adem Bona in 1/5 ball screens, because Bona had a few moments where he stood rooted to the spot in no man’s land.

Edgecombe’s inability to score with consistency hurt more than usual on Sunday without the vet stars to pick him up. Missed layups on nice drives to the rim will pop up in the review of this game, I would imagine. But in classic Edgecombe fashion, with nothing going and the clock running down in overtime, Edgecombe pulled himself out of a deep shooting funk with a pull-up bomb from downtown. Against the run of form, Edgecombe rose up and brought the game level with this insanity:

in the CLUTCH! 🥶 pic.twitter.com/6CBInLL3Wm

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 12, 2026

Too little, too late, sadly.

A mismatch in the paint

The story of this game in the first 24 minutes was Toronto’s decided advantage in the paint. The Raptors had 38 points in the paint compared to 24 for Philadelphia, and you felt every bit of that. Toronto was the bigger, tougher, and more imposing team, which isn’t particularly surprising given the available personnel for both teams.

On paper, Andre Drummond is someone who should be able to leverage his size against the Raptors with Jakob Poeltl out of the lineup. But if you needed any additional evidence to see the difference between Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond, I submit to you the footage from this game. He looked particularly out of place against a Raptors team that plays fast in the halfcourt and runs at every opportunity. Drummond has had some great games and stretches this season, but he has been ineffective for most of the last month.

I think there was a strong case to be made to go small for the entire second half, using Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker, and Adem Bona in tandem to play a brand of switchable basketball. Although Drummond was the nominal starter, Nick Nurse leaned on Bona, and Philadelphia’s improved ability to switch, pressure the ball high, and recover seemed to make a big difference on defense.

Other notes

— Collin Murray-Boyles is good at basketball and will be for a long time.

— Heinous missed call on the game-winning sequence for Scottie Barnes, who hooked Kelly Oubre before drawing the foul on Philadelphia’s veteran wing. That said, Oubre left himself vulnerable to nonsense in that spot, and he should have been nowhere close to Barnes, a pull-up shooter you’d love to dare in crunch time.

(I do think the last two-minute report will vindicate Oubre, for the record.)