After an abysmal first half, the Philadelphia 76ers clawed their way back into the game,only to falter down the stretch. The Sixers were down two starters and had trouble finding consistent contributions outside of their three stars. With the trade deadline looming, the shortcomings of the team were on full display .
The Philadelphia 76ers drop the season series to Toronto (1-3) after tonight’s loss. The game was not anywhere near close unit later in the third quarter. J.J. Redick was sidelined late due to nausea, and Wilson Chandler is sidelined for the next several games with a quad injury. Outside of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Jimmy Butler, the Sixers remaining role players were virtually nonfactors.
Leading the way for the victorious team from The North; Kyle Lowry, Kawhi Leonard, and Serge Ibaka all had impressive outings. Lowry was doubtful for the game as of yesterday, but logged 35 minutes with 20 points and six assists. Serge Ibaka was a team-high +24, due to his stout defense and 20 and 10. Kawhi Leonard was his typical gamebreaker self, playing all-world defense and dropping 24 points, 16 of which at the foul line.
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Embiid had a dull first half, but then reverted to his true superstar self. He was a machine in the second half and finished with 37 points and 13 rebounds. Simmons had a modest stat-line of 20/7/6, but six turnovers really marred his production . Butler had 18 points and five assists, but his defense was inconsistent.
If there’s any other player that had a noteworthy night it was Mike Muscala … and that’s not saying much. Muscala’s energy gets underappreciated and his activity led to seven free throw attempts. With the exception of one shot, all of his points were earned at the stripe.
Three stats told the story of the game. The Raptors pulled down 15 offensive rebounds. Second chance points and elongated possessions were crucial in the second half. It felt like the offensive glass derailed every momentum swing the Sixers generated.
The Sixers shot 29-percent from three. It’s hard to beat a lot of teams in the NBA shooting so poorly from deep, especially elite teams like Toronto. Landry Shamet and Embiid were the only starters to make a three and Furkan Korkmaz was 1-6 from beyond. The Sixers committed 18 turnovers. The Sixers have shown us they can overcome their carelessness with the ball, but against the Raptors they needed every chance they can get.
The porous defense of the first half was too much to overcome. The Raptors were slicing and dicing the Sixers defense. The bench offered zero help. The boos from the Wells Fargo seats were out early and often. The spacing on offense was sporadic. The absence of Redick made quality looks hard to come by for everyone. The Sixers had an eight-man rotation. The Raptors had an eleven-man rotation. The Sixers’ lack of depth was in stark contrast to the Raptors.
The Sixers played eight people in a regular season game. That’s a playoff rotation number, not one for the first week of February. The Sixers’ effort should be lauded for the fact they didn’t get smoked tonight. There were a lot of times throughout the game, where the Raptors should have put the game away for good. Credit the Sixers for fighting.
The trade deadline is looming and this team needs upgrades. There is no game before Thursday’s deadline and there is a very-high chance some current Philadelphia 76ers will not be on the team by the end of the week. Tonight’s subs were; TJ McConnell, Jonah Bolden, and Furkan Korkmaz. All of whom were nonexistent, so stay tuned before the trade deadline.