Raptors handle 76ers for 12th win in last 13 games

A little pre-Christmas processing.

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Raptors 102, 76ers 86 | Box Score | Quick Reaction | Reaction Podcast

Saturday was going to be different than Thursday. That was going to be the case for any number of reasons. The Toronto Raptors would be hosting the Philadelphia 76ers rather than vice versa, and the Raptors are quite good at home. They also wouldn’t be on the second night of a road back-to-back, which could mean fresher legs. Toronto is making their home court a point of emphasis, and after a close-call in Philadelphia, there was once again a focus on treating no opponent by their record.

“We want to make this a tough place to play,” head coach Dwane Casey said. “Last year we struggled with teams that supposedly had bad records, or didn’t have .500 records, and we struggled against them. I can see an air of confidence, especially here, and we’ve got to continue that. We have to go into every game with a healthy amount of respect and the energy you’ve got to have.”

Hanging over everything, though, was the big potential change for the 76ers – his status shrouded in mystery until minutes before tip-off, Joel Embiid was set to make his debut in Toronto four years into his NBA career. The Sixers are a demonstrably better team with their star piece on the court, and it often seems like he gives those around him an added swagger. He’d present a bigger test, even if the Raptors were better equipped and better motivated to take it on than they would have been 48 hours prior.

And it was all Embiid early. The Process took Philadelphia’s first six shots of the game, posting up Jonas Valanciunas, nailing a three behind the play, and taking it at Valanciunas for a hook shot around a trio of misses. He also drew a foul on Valanciunas with a pump-fake facing up and threw Ben Simmons a tidy lob on one of the rare non-Embiid field-goal attempts of the first quarter. At the other end, the Raptors brought a better energy than Thursday, really attacking the offensive glass despite Embiid’s presence, only for their execution to be found wanting. Their second offensive possessions of the game saw them grab three offensive boards and wind up with zero points, which was emblematic of the early minutes. Serge Ibaka was able to stick a couple of early jumpers to keep pace, and a great pass in transition from OG Anunoby saw DeMar DeRozan, trapped aggressively whenever he worked as a ball-handler, carry over his recent hot shooting with a corner three.

Brett Brown couldn’t ride Embiid too long and Simmons picked up a pair of early fouls, necessitating an early turn to the bench. Amir Johnson was actually just Embiid in disguise, though, and hit back-to-back shots upon checking in, both set up on strong attacks at DeRozan from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarot. Ibaka continued a mostrous 13-point first quarter – apparently angered at Dario Saric getting the better of him last time out – and DeRozan got some revenge with a nifty reverse driving into a checked-back in Embiid. Philly’s bench held up well around Embiid, and the Sixers were able to hold even at 27 through a quarter.

The Raptors bench brought some terrific defensive energy, freely switching Simmons-Saric actions with Jakob Poeltl fighting tough inside. Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright each came up with clean steals, as they do, and Wright’s lead to an and-one the other day to open up a six-point lead, all of it created by a second unit that hasn’t had major positive stretches like this as often lately. Philly pushed back as the Raptors’ starters returned but Lowry and Valanciunas pushed back with some nice two-man work of their own, including a Lowry drawn charge, Lowry going between Embiid’s legs for a feed to Valanciunas, and a sweet Valanciunas kick to an open Anunoby in the corner that didn’t produce a basket.

Valanciunas delivered two more tough points through contact and then took a seat with two fouls, conserving some wiggle room opposite EMbiid for the second half. The Raptors continued to take advantage of the 76ers’ proclivity for turnovers, with Lowry swiping an errant pass and hitting a three to make it 21 points off of 14 turnovers in the half. Toronto wasn’t exactly conservative with the ball, turning it over eight times themselves, but a 10-point edge in that category was the driving force in a nine-point halftime lead.

The third quarter got out to an inauspicious start for the Raptors with a Saric-Simmons alley-oop connection. Valanciunas and Ibaka both connected in the mid-range, though, the 76ers picked up a second technical foul, and DeRozan continued to get mostly what he wanted or at least to the line. Embiid, meanwhile, dunked on Valanciunas but it represented one of only two success and four post-up possessions in short order, a decent outcome for Toronto. Things went off the rails a bit for Toronto from there, as Ibaka and Lowry both picked up their fourth fouls and Philadelphia got the lead back within four, a gap that could have been even smaller were it not for two big Poeltl blocks.

DeRozan helped settle things down with a personal 5-0 run, including another three, and the defense from the bench was once again quite strong (Poeltl, in particular, had a terrific quarter and VanVleet was a terror digging in to double Embiid post-ups). Yet another DeRozan triple had Philadelphia running for a timeout, likely with the aim of getting a 12-point deficit back to single-digits for the fourth. They did not do that. A fourth DeRozan three – what is going on? he’s now 13-of-20 the last three games – and a Poeltl put-back frustrated Embiid into the team’s third technical of the game and extended the lead to 18 through three quarters.

“The second unit changed the game a little bit. They came in with some energy, as they did in Philadelphia,” Casey said. “Delon’s length, he gets in the passing lane and knows how to use it. He’s very smart. Freddy’s a very tough competitor, one of our smartest players. Hew as timing Embiid’s dribble, he was timing it, timing it and he does a very good job of knowing when to double team, who to double team off.”

With a third game in four days and a healthy cushion, Casey rolled with the all-bench group opposite Brown’s decision to go all-starters at the top of the fourth. Their defense continued getting the job done, keeping Philadelphia at a Giannis-arm’s length. Sixer turnovers remained consistent, Wright had a tremendous euro-step in transition, and Pascal Siakam continued a strong scoreless effort.

The Raptors’ starters probably didn’t even need to return around the eight-minute mark as they did, outside of maybe Valanciunas, and they seemed to have already checked out a bit. The 76ers made a short-lived comeback attempt that never got closer than 12, and the dagger more or less came when Wright blocked a Saric 3-point attempt then leaked for an outlet. The Sixers called it quits by emptying out the bench soon after, and an Ibaka dunk in transition worked as a fine exclamation point. That meant an emptied Raptors bench, including Malcolm Miller’s second appearance of the season, and things went more or less to script for the final two minutes. The script called for a huge Norman Powell dunk, by the way.

It was a much more thorough and emphatic performance on Thursday. The 76ers even with Embiid haven’t shown to be world-beaters, but the Raptors handled him well, holding him to 14 points on 13 field-goal attempts and holding the Sixers as a team to a paltry offensive rating of 83.1. DeRozan was once again terrific as a lead scorer, pouring in 29 points, the bigs chipped in offensively, and Wright led a resurgent bench group that appears to be coming around now that he’s back. More than anything, they did the two things they’ve been trying to make an expectation, dominating on home court and treating a middling opponent like a quality one.

“One thing we always stress, especially me and Kyle, is making this our sanctuary. When we come in here, protecting it at all costs,” DeRozan said. “To be a good team, you’ve gotta be able to take care of business whenever you go out there and play teams, especially teams with lesser records, not overlook or underloook anybody. That’s the mentality we go out with every single night, ’cause we once was in that position and know what it felt like.”

They’re doing exactly that. The win is Toronto’s sixth in a row, their 12th in the last 13 games, their 12th in 13 home games overall, and their 16th in 17 games against teams with losing records. It’s difficult to effectively control for an easy month of the schedule (Basketball Reference tries and grades the Raptors exceptionally well when doing so), but all told, the Raptors own the league’s third-best net rating, its fourth-best offense, its fifth-best defense, and its fourth-best record. They’re doing what they’re supposed to with what’s in front of them, and they’re feeling good enough to have some pre-holiday fun, as they should be.

To end on a personal note, we’re off until Boxing Day now, when the Raptors visit Dallas. I’d like to sincerely wish all of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holidays, or just a wonderful couple of days with downtime, friends, family, or whatever else makes you happy. All the best from us here at RR, and we’ll talk to you again Tuesday morning.

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December 22, 2010 The Toronto Raptors mascot gets into the Christmas Spirit prior to the start of the Raptors and Detroit Pistons NBA game at the ACC. Toronto Star/Andrew Wallace

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