Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers hailed Joel Embiid following his game-winning and record-equalling display against the Toronto Raptors.

Embiid posted a third consecutive double-double to help the 76ers rally past the Raptors 100-93 in NBA action in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The three-time All-Star, who missed the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a stiff back, returned to post 29 points and 16 rebounds against the winless Raptors.

Embiid became the first 76ers player to score at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in each of his first three games in a season since Charles Barkley in 1986-87.

"He was terrific, dominant," Rivers said post-game. "I thought he made the three best plays down the stretch by passes.

"He got the ball out of the post, swung it, got the ball again, swung it to Seth [Curry] for a three, and that's how we have to play."

Rivers added: "Embiid is a dominant basketball player and the other teams are going to send people. We work on it every day, everyone getting into the right spots. So Joel doesn't have to think. He can just pass it and he did that tonight."

Embiid put up 18 points – 12 in the second quarter – six rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block in the first half.

"I'm just doing my job, but you got to give a lot of credit," said Embiid. "Tobias [Harris] came up big, Seth hit a big shot.

"We, as a team, we all had a great defensive fourth quarter. Offensively, we just moved the ball."

The 76ers – eyeing their first championship since 1983 – trailed by as many as 14 points before clawing their way back to improve to 3-1 for the season.

"These games are great for your character," Rivers said. "You've just gotta keep playing. I was really happy."

Ben Simmons, meanwhile, lauded 76ers team-mate Tobias Harris – who finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds to help fuel Philadelphia's comeback.

"He was huge," Simmons said of Harris. "Whenever you have somebody going, you want to keep feeding them, and going with that momentum.

"He was great for us and Joel also was dominant so those two guys together had great offensive games and then defensively as a team, we really stepped up."