PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Almost exactly three years ago, former Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard tossed up a leaning fadeaway rainbow buzzer-beating shot over the outstretched arm of Joel Embiid, who watched it bounce four times on the rim before it went through the net and sent the Sixers home in a heartbreaking Game 7 second-round loss. Embiid left the court in tears.
But Wednesday night in Toronto — the first playoff game the Sixers played there since Leonard’s dramatic bucket — things came full circle. And this time, Embiid left jumping with joy.
Embiid drilled a three-pointer with less than a second to go from an out-of-bounds.
While a season-ending buzzer-beater is hard to equate, Embiid’s three-pointer felt like poetic justice, though he doesn’t see it that way.
“I haven’t really thought about what happened three years ago,” Embiid said postgame. “Obviously this shot makes me feel good about what kind of happened. But during this whole series, I haven’t really thought about coming in here and trying to get my revenge. I think I’m more focused about trying to win the whole thing.”
The moments leading up to Embiid’s swish were just as noteworthy: The Sixers didn’t take the lead in this game until overtime. James Harden fouled out in the fourth quarter. Toronto’s Precious Achiuwa missed two free throws late in regulation that helped send the game to overtime.
And, during the possession in which Embiid made his clutch three-pointer, things were a mess, and Sixers head coach Doc Rivers used his final timeout, with .9 seconds left on the shot clock, so he could calm things down and draw up a play. Rivers ran to the other end of the floor to get the referee’s attention.
NBA TV caught Rivers on mic during that timeout, where he drew up the game-winning play.
Rivers certainly called an effective play. The Sixers ran it perfectly, and they are one win closer to moving on to the second round of the playoffs.
Game 4 is Saturday at 2 p.m. in Toronto. The Sixers haven’t swept a best-of-seven playoff series since 1985.