Best and Worst awards: Sixers vs. Raptors
Best performance: It was a no-brainer to give this award to Kyle Lowry. The Toronto Raptors point guard made 10 of 17 shots en route to scoring a team-high 25 points to go with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and three turnovers. The Philly native and former Villanova standout took over the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his points and dishing out three of his assists.
Worst performance: There’s no way that Jerami Grant could have avoided receiving this award. The Sixers forward is normally the team’s energy guy. However, he is non-existent on this night. He finished with three points on 1-for-3 shooting. He also had four rebounds, three assists and four turnovers in 22 minutes, 5 seconds.
“My assistant coach Mike D’Antoni gave a good analogy: when you’re sleeping and you have a blanket that’s too short and you pull it up and your feet are cold and you pull it down and your chest is cold,” Brown said. “We’re moving and trying to put out fires and should it be big ball or should it be Jerami [Grant] at the three. They were collapsing underneath everything and onto Jahlil and we needed more shooters so we went with Hollis [Thompson] and Nik [Stauskas].”
Interestingly, the Raptors scored just 18 points in the third quarter with Okafor out there for the entire 12 minutes. Though Toronto figured out how to guard Okafor, the Sixers cut the deficit to six points and got within two possessions early in the fourth.
Chalk that up to Okafor’s defense and Ish Smith’s scoring ability.
With Okafor drawing the focus of Toronto’s defense, Smith scored 18 of his career-high — and Sixers’ season-best — 28 points during the third quarter.
“When you go into a game in your head subbing the first round. Then it just plays out — someone gets in foul trouble, somebody doesn’t play well,” Brown said. “When you prepare for a game, I know the first wave of subs.”
Five Observations: Continuity a difference-maker for Raptors – Sportsnet.ca
1. Ball Movement Plus Ball Security
The Raptors had 14 assists at the half and finished the game with 19. Toronto had just 11 Friday night against Washington. A big reason why is they took much better care of the ball. Toronto had just 13 turnovers after committing a season high 23 versus the Wizards. The ball didn’t stick offensively, which is why Toronto had great success in their half-court offence. Just 10 of Toronto’s 108 points were via the fast break.2. Return of Ross
After leaving Friday night’s game due to a back injury, Terrence Ross was able to play through the pain effectively just 24 hours later. Ross came off the bench to score 16 points on 6/10 shooting in 24 minutes. Ross and the second unit carried the offence in the first half when the Raptors struggled to find quality shots.3. DeRozan Dunkfest
Philadelphia 76ers Unable to Overcome Toronto Raptors
The Sixers knew they needed to shut Luis Scola down, and they did, only allowing him to score two points. Unfortunately, this allowed two bench players, Patrick Peterson and Terrence Ross to really step up during this game and show what they were made of, each scoring over 10 points.
Overall, for the Raptors, this was an impressive win on a back-to-back for them. Their next game is overseas in London against the Orlando Magic.
26 assists was another positive for the Sixers.
Lastly, Ish Smith had a career high 28 points, thanks to a near-20 point performance in the third quarter alone. Smith was practically the only thing keeping the Sixers in the game at that point, and they were lucky to have him around. Although the Sixers didn’t win, this does go to show that they are much more competitive now that they have a true point guard on their roster.
At the same time, it just shows how bad the rest of the roster can be, since when Smith was out, no one stepped up. Kendall Marshall was yet again not given a chance to play, and T.J. McConnell had just 5 points. His 8 assists was a nice glimmer back to his first big back-to-back 12 assist games as a Sixer earlier this season.
The Toronto Raptors face an important question this season: Can the evolution of DeMar DeRozan and “Skinny Kyle Lowry” launch the team to a deep postseason run?
The lone NBA team located outside of the United States has made the playoffs out East in consecutive years behind 48 and 49-win seasons, led by their backcourt duo of DeRozan and Lowry. However, Toronto has been kicked out of the postseason in the first round both years.
In 2014, as the third seed, the Raptors lost in a closely-contested series with the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets, who were led by a mishmash of veterans such as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. Ultimately, the Raptors lost Game 7 by a single point. Then, in 2015, Toronto got swept as the fourth-seed by the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards (who were also led by Paul Pierce), including a series-sealing 125-94 blowout. While that is better than being the Philadelphia 76ers or the Los Angeles Lakers at the moment, being stuck as a good team that can’t advance deep in the playoffs creates somewhat of a predicament and isn’t an ideal position to be in.
Kyle Lowry leads Raptors in home stretch of another homecoming | Toronto Star
The Sixers caught the Raptors off guard to start the game, with rookie centre Jahlil Okafor scoring eight quick points in their 12-0 run. The poor start forced Raptors coach Dwane Casey to burn up a timeout with his team down 8-0 just 2:25 in.
Lowry ended the drought, but even that basket had Philly’s influence on it. His shot was partially blocked on its way to the basket and still managed to roll in. From that less-than-satisfactory beginning, the Raptors began to find their groove thanks to strong bench play.
Terrence Ross was a game-time decision due to a sore back that took him out of Friday’s win over the Washington Wizards, but he came in on Saturday and led the bench charge. He checked in at 4:42 of the first quarter for James Johnson and went an efficient 4-of-6 from the field for nine points. The Raptors’ reserves, along with DeRozan and Valanciunas, dug themselves out of that early deficit by the end the quarter and trailed 26-25.
Raptors 108, Sixers 95: Game of Runs – Liberty Ballers
“That’s a playoff team and that might be a deep playoff team,” said Brett Brown after the game. “You appreciate their shot-makers.”
The loss spoiled a splendid effort from point guard Ish Smith, who finished with a career-high 28 points, 18 of which came in the third quarter. Smith’s second half explosion allowed the 76ers to hang around for most of the game – they trailed by just four early in the fourth thanks to an 11-0 run – but Kyle Lowry (25 points, 10 in the 4th quarter) did Kyle Lowry-like things against his hometown team late, and the Raptors were able to escape with a 13-point victory.
Tonight’s box score may show that the Sixers shot nearly 49 percent from the field and a healthy 64.7 percent from beyond the arc, but that’s a bit deceiving when taken at face value. Quite frankly, outside of Smith and Okafor (who finished with 19), the 76ers’ offense never really seemed to find any rhythm. Carl Landry was third on the team in points with 11, but most of those came in garbage time.
