Sixers takeaways: Costly turnovers, another woeful third quarter, and more in loss to Raptors

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Nov 19, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — Tyrese Maxey continued to shine against the Toronto Raptors. However, he must take more than 14 shot attempts for the 76ers to win.

The team must do a better job of handling the ball.

And it is becoming evident that the Sixers may never get over their third-quarter blues.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 121-112 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

More shots needed

The Sixers (8-6) can rely on Maxey to post solid numbers against the Raptors (10-5).

The standout guard averaged 25.5 points and 5.5 assists in his previous 10 games against Toronto. That included a 44-point outing while making a career-high nine 3-pointers at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 28, 2022. Maxey also had 31 points and seven assists in the Sixers’ 130-120 victory over their Atlantic Division foe on Nov. 8.

So it wasn’t surprising that he had 24 points, nine assists and three steals against the Raptors on Wednesday. He made eight of his shots, including hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers.

It was a contest in which Maxey imposed his will from the start. He scored 12 points in the first quarter while making 3 of 5 3-pointers.

“That was about as aggressive as he could be,” coach Nick Nurse said to reporters. “I think he was doing it all at the start of the game. And I don’t think that’s nearly enough shot attempts for him tonight.

“Obviously, they were plugging and doing some late double-teaming on him.”

Maxey made good plays while passing out of double teams. However, he needs to score more for the undermanned Sixers to win games.

He attempted only two shots in the second quarter. His made basket and only points of that quarter came on a 28-foot 3-pointer that gave the Sixers a 54-53 cushion with 52.1 seconds left in the half.

Maxey then scored nine points in the third quarter on 3-for-4 shooting before being held scoreless in the fourth while attempting just one shot.

Costly turnovers

The Sixers came into this contest tied with the Indiana Pacers and the Sacramento Kings for the seventh-fewest turnovers per game at 14.1. And their average of 11 over their previous three games was tied with the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers for the fewest.

But, on occasion, the Sixers get sloppy with the ball and become a turnover waiting to happen.

Wednesday night was one of those occasions.

They turned the ball over a season-worst 21 times, leading to 31 points for the Raptors.

“They certainly have some length,” Nurse said of the Raptors. “But I just think, I got to look at it on tape, but for me, it was just we weren’t quite spaced where we should have been. Threw right into some denial lanes, thinking that if you move them up higher, they’re probably not in denial lanes. If you back cut them out, somebody else is probably coming to replace. It’s probably an easier pass.”

Nurse added that the Sixers cut off their drives to the lane too early, taking pressure off the Raptors defenders.

“You give them credit because of their length, and they got their hands on balls,” Nurse said. “But I think we contributed to a lot of it.”

The Sixers turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter. Those giveaways led to 12 first-quarter points by the Raptors. They also committed eight turnovers in the third quarter, which led to 15 Toronto points.

They must cut down on the careless passes and lackadaisical ball handling.

Third-quarter blues

The Sixers had another dismal third quarter, being outscored 44-26. The Raptors shot 68.4% from the field, including making 5 of 6 3-pointers. The Raptors also took a 97-82 lead into the fourth quarter as the Sixers were doomed by their turnovers.

“Well, a lot of bad,” Nurse said of the quarter. “A lot of bad. We started to foul them right off the bat. I think they were in the bonus with 9:39 or something [remaining]. Bad start and a bunch of turnovers.

“I think we turned it over three straight possessions and committed three or four straight fouls.”

But while they’ve struggled in the third quarter, they’ve been dominant in the fourth.

So they attempted to post their fifth win in a game in which they trailed by at least 10 points. And it looked like they were about to make that happen.

VJ Edgecombe pulled the Sixers within three points (111-108) with 3 minutes, 23 seconds remaining. However, the Raptors responded with a 5-0 run to push their lead up to eight points before winning by nine.