PHILADELPHIA — Pascal Siakam scored 23 points, Precious Achiuwa had 17 and the Toronto Raptors forced a return home for Game 6 in their Eastern Conference first-round series against Philadelphia, beating the 76ers 103-88 on Monday night.

Yo, Canada! Once holding a 3-0 series lead, the 76ers are headed back north.

The Raptors have won two straight in the series and jumped all over injured Sixers center Joel Embiid and ineffective James Harden to make Thursday night’s game a necessity.

Embiid had 20 points and 11 rebounds playing with a thumb injury. Harden scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

Sixers Coach Doc Rivers is dragging the weight of ignominious NBA history with him through customs. Rivers, who led Boston to the 2008 championship, is the only coach in NBA history to blow three 3-1 series leads. The Magic lost to Detroit in the 2003 Eastern Conference first round; the 2015 Clippers blew the series to Houston in the Western Conference semifinals; and in 2020, the Clippers lost to Denver in the West semifinals.

The next season, Rivers was in Philly – and the Sixers lost three games at home as the No. 1 seed and were eliminated in the second round.

The nerves in Philly are suddenly as tight as the rims.

The Sixers had a miserable first half. They finished with 10 turnovers and shot 35% from the floor. Philly’s last bucket in the first quarter was one for the blooper reel: Matisse Thybulle’s missed shot bounced off the rim and was accidentally tipped in by Achiuwa.

Whoops.

Maybe it sparked something for the Raptors. They opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to take control all while the Sixers missed their first nine shots. The Sixers didn’t score until 6:51 was left in the half. Scottie Barnes scored eight points in the quarter and the Raptors took a 54-41 lead at the break.

NOTES

AWARDS: Ja Morant was rookie of the year in 2020, vowing he would get better from there.

And he’s done exactly that.

The Memphis Grizzlies guard picked up his second major award in three seasons Monday, being named the NBA’s Most Improved Player. He is the first Grizzlies player to receive the award.

Morant set career bests in scoring (27.4 points per game), rebounds (5.7), steals (1.2) and field-goal shooting (49.3%). His scoring average last season was 19.1 per game, and he made the big jump while playing basically the same amount of minutes.

“Just constant work, putting in work to be better at certain areas of my game each and every day,” Morant said during the televised announcement of him receiving the award, which came a few hours after he was told he had won during Grizzlies practice. “That’s pretty much where all that came from.”

Morant, an All-Star this season for the first time, was hardly a runaway winner. He finished with 221 points from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, three for a second and one for a third.

San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray was second with 183 points, and Cleveland’s Darius Garland was third with 178. Murray appeared on 63 ballots, more than anyone else. Garland appeared on 62 ballots.

76ERS: Center Joel Embiid was fined $15,000 for criticizing the officiating in Game 4 of the 76ers’ first-round playoff series against Toronto, the NBA announced.

Embiid made his remarks to reporters after a 110-102 loss on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.

For the first time in the series, the Raptors shot more free throws than the 76ers. Toronto went 28 for 35 at the line, and Philadelphia was 21 for 25 as the Raptors avoided a four-game sweep.

GRIZZLIES: Coach Taylor Jenkins was fined $15,000 for publicly criticizing the officiating in Game 4 of the Grizzlies’ series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the NBA announced.

Jenkins made his comments to the media following the Grizzlies’ 119-118 loss Saturday in Minneapolis.

BULLS: Guard Alex Caruso is in the NBA’s concussion protocol and is questionable for Game 5 of the first-round playoff series at Milwaukee, Coach Billy Donovan said.

The Bucks lead 3-1 and will try to wrap up the series at home on Wednesday. Milwaukee won the past two games in Chicago by a combined 54 points.

Caruso took an inadvertent hit to the face from the Bucks’ Jevon Carter while trying to get around a pick by Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the second quarter on Sunday. He exited with a bloody nose.

Arguably Chicago’s best defender, Caruso was limited to 41 games in the regular season after spending his first four years with the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed seven weeks with a broken wrist following a hard foul by the Bucks’ Grayson Allen during a game in Milwaukee in January.

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