Embiid held scoreless for 1st time in career

Joel Embiid's struggles against Marc Gasol continued in the first meeting between the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors since last season's memorable second-round playoff clash.

The Cameroon native went 0-for-11 from the field and 0-for-3 from the free-throw line as he was held scoreless for the first time in his career in the Sixers' 101-96 loss to the defending champions.

"I didn't think I would ever be here talking about zero points in an NBA game, but it is what it is," Embiid told reporters postgame, including theScore's Joseph Casciaro.

Embiid's lowest output prior to Monday night's matchup was a five-point performance against the New York Knicks in March 2018.

Gasol was Embiid's primary defender during last spring's postseason series and held his counterpart to 31.9% shooting, per NBA.com. It was the same story Monday as Embiid missed all four of his attempts from distance and turned over the ball four times.

"He's a (former) Defensive Player of the Year. He's really good," 76ers head coach Brett Brown said of Embiid's struggles against Gasol.

Embiid will look to rebound on Wednesday when Philadelphia returns to action against the Sacramento Kings.

Meanwhile, Toronto improves to 12-4 on the season and continues to hold steady near the top of the Eastern Conference standings without key players Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka.