Philadelphia has spent the past few years attempting to be as awful as they possibly can, but despite their best efforts they still find themselves ahead of both the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Think about it, Philadelphia used three first round draft picks in the last two years on players who they knew wouldn’t play during the year following the draft (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric). Sam Hinkie has turned tanking into an art…you know…outside of actually finishing with the worst record.
The 76ers came into the last night’s game against Toronto ranked 30th in almost every offensive category: field goals made, field goal percentage, three point percentage (despite attempting the third most per game), free throw percentage (67.9%…ouch), turnovers, and points. They are also ranked 29th in assists per game.
And to make matters even worse better for Hinkie, last night Philadelphia was once again without leading scorer Tony Wroten, who, as announced yesterday, is scheduled to undergo surgery on a partially torn ACL in his right knee.
Simply put, the Raptors are just a more talented team and it’s not even close…which is what made the first few minutes last night so painful to watch. Philadelphia jumped out to a 9-0 lead just three minutes into the game, forcing Dwane Casey to use his first timeout.
Actually transcript from first timeout:
Casey: …what….what the hell is wrong with all of you!?!?
Bruno: English no so better, Coach.
***silence***
Casey: Look at them…look at who we are playing.
Tom Sterner: *passionately weeps while staring at the camera*
It got worse before it got better. The 76ers scored the first 15 points of the game before Jonas finally broke the goose egg with a free throw.
In fact, I’m done talking about the first quarter. Raptors were down 30-22 after one quarter…it sucked and my soul is in too much pain to continue reflecting on that piece of garbage.
Fine…one more thing. The Raptors managed to finish the first quarter strong thanks to a Vasquez floater as time expired, as Toronto managed to go the full length of the court with just two seconds remaining.
As bad as the first quarter was, the second quarter was close to being that good at least much better. Toronto started to exert their power and at the forefront of their attack was their star point guard…Greivis Vasquez?
Vasquez was fantastic during this stretch. He got to the basket at will for easy lay-ups, and made a number of very smart passes to Old Cement Hands Hansbrough during some hitchy pick and rolls, most of which resulted in lost balls by Tyler.
Outside of an atrocious pull-up three with just over six minutes remaining in the quarter (while Toronto was on a 3-on-2 fastbreak), Vasquez was the back-up point guard that Toronto needs him to be.
After being down 28-14 during the first quarter, Toronto outscored Philadelphia 34-13 through the remainder of the first half, and took a 7 point lead into the break. The Raptors even ran an actual play to end the second quarter, instead of their traditional Lou Williams clear-out.
Philadelphia handed the game to Toronto during the first half, allowing 20 first half points off their 14 turnovers. In many ways, it was less a matter of Toronto playing well, and more of a matter as to how atrocious Philadelphia actually is.
(Second side note: Am I the only one who laughed hysterically watching Jack Armstrong climb bleacher steps for a full minute during halftime?)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Toronto needs to be conscious of who their opponent is. This isn’t to say that they can play down to their opponent, as they did at the start of the game. What I mean by this is that the Raptors need to be conscious of what the other team wants to do on offense. Toronto spent the entire night frantically chasing any Philadelphia shooter off of the three point line, despite the fact that they are the worst three point shooting team in the league.
The constant chasing meant that Philadelphia almost always had an open shooter, and it was often their best three point shooter in Robert Covington. Covington started the game 4-of-8 from three, but would miss his last three attempts.
The game was a track meet between two teams that were seeing who could miss more shots. The fourth quarter didn’t hurt my soul in the same way as the first quarter, but it felt like a hard slap to the face.
Overall, there is little to write home about from last night’s game. Toronto did just enough to win, and made the 76ers look far better than they actually are. After the first quarter, it never felt like the Raptors didn’t have the game in hand. Even when Philadelphia went on a small run to take a 70-68 lead with eight minutes remaining, it felt like little more than a formality…you know…until it wasn’t a formality anymore.
Philadelphia pushed their lead to 77-68 and life was terrible until Kyle Lowry decided to show up. Lowry took over when they needed him most in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the quarter, and hitting a ridiculous fade-away three in the process. Lowry managed to go on a personal 13-4 run to tie the game at 81.
Lowry saved his best for the end of the game, but to me Patrick Patterson was the MVP on the night. Pat-Pat finished with a double-double of 14 points (6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from three) and 13 rebounds, while also adding 3 assists and two steals.
