Everything looked up for the Sixers after their dominating Game 3 win over the Raptors. Pascal Siakam was also doubtful to play. 3-1 was on the horizon.

And then it wasn’t. Siakam played (he only got nine points), but Kawhi Leonard ran the show again with 39 points and 14 rebounds, and a very sick Joel Embiid did not help either as the Sixers fell to Toronto 101-96. Embiid finished with 11 points, eight boards, and seven assists despite being close to not playing.

When the team needed him down the stretch, he failed to deliver. He missed both of his shots from the floor and committed two turnovers and four fouls in the final 12 minutes. He also went 3-for-6 on free throws. Not great despite a 29 point, 11 rebound double-double from Jimmy Butler.

Embiid is going to be the key to this series. Had he not been sick, it would’ve been highly likely both teams would’ve headed to Toronto with the Raptors on the brink of elimination.

So now, it’s a best-of-three series. Game 5 is tomorrow night in Toronto. The Sixers need Embiid to ball out. The Raptors are currently a -6.5 favorite per PointsBet.

Elsewhere, Monty Williams will become the next head coach of the Phoenix Suns after the season is over.

And a note from Kevin: The Sixers held predraft workouts this morning with the following guys:

O’Shae Brissett (Syracuse)
CJ Elleby (Washington State)
Andrew Nembhard (Florida)
Ronshad Shabazz (Appalachian State)
Tres Tinkle (Oregon State)
Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra)

Before we continue, a word from our sponsors:

Stupid money. Spend it all. Shop now.

Fresh. The best meal delivery service, without question. Sign up for Hello Fresh now and get $40 off your first two boxes.

Amazon. If you shop Amazon, support your favorite website and use our link.

The Roundup:

It feels like the Phillies play the Nationals like every two weeks (it might actually be the case). The two teams played again this weekend with the Phils taking two of three.

Rhys Hoskins’ three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth lifted the Phillies for a 4-2 win on Friday. But on Jimmy Rollins Retirement Night, the Phillies bullpen blew an 8-5 lead with back-to-back home runs in the eighth as Washington took a 10-8 win. But in yesterday’s rubber match, Zach Eflin had a solid seven inning outing where he gave up a run on four hits with five strikeouts and the bats resulted in a five-run sixth inning for a 7-1 win.

The Phils are back in action tonight as they travel to St. Louis to play the Cardinals. First pitch is at 8:05 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia with Vince Velasquez taking the mound against Miles Mikolas.

In other Phils news, Gabe Kapler explains why he DFA’d Aaron Altherr, while some pitchers had a little fun with a few pizza chefs.

In other sports news, Country House won the Kentucky Derby after some horse controversy.

The Nuggets tied their series with the Trail Blazers after a 4OT thriller on Friday, while Milwaukee and Houston won their respective Game 3s.

Carolina completed their sweep of the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Boston took Game 5 from Columbus, and St. Louis forced a Game 7 against Dallas.

The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament field was announced. Penn is a #4 seed, while Penn State takes the #1 overall seed.

In the news, a Russia plane crash killed 41 people.

A driver in a South Philly crash said he was trying to avoid gunfire.