Love you Danny, but you killed me with those misses.
 | PHI 76ers | 94 | Final Box Score | 89 | TOR Raptors |  |
 B+ | P. Siakam40 MIN, 21 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 9-25 FG, 2-7 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 0 +/- Likewise to Lowry, the missed shots (especially the open ones) are tough to swallow, especially when he’s typically one of the league’s most efficient players. Also likewise to Lowry, his defense was great. Mixed bag, but his compete level never dropped. Had a tough time around the rim, and that’s a credit to the 76ers defense. | |
 A+ | K. Leonard42 MIN, 35 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 13-24 FG, 3-10 3FG, 6-7 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 4 +/- Was all kinds of dominant, and even in the face of a terrific defensive showing from Ben Simmons. The 76ers did everything they could to get the ball out of his hands and he persevered to score, to make the right pass, and to get on the glass. A shining bright spot. A major star. | |
 B- | M. Gasol35 MIN, 5 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 1-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 7 +/- He played good defense, save for a couple misses when the speed of the 76ers put him in tough positions. He hamstrung the offense at times with his passivity. He consistently turned 4-on-3 opportunities into 3-on-3 opportunities, and that usually ended up leading to a reset in the offense. Surprisingly stagnated the offense repeatedly. Still a major cog in the Raptors machine. | |
 A | K. Lowry42 MIN, 20 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 7-17 FG, 2-6 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 1 +/- The Raptors win when he’s on the court and his defense in this one was incredibly good. He was good tonight, and the shots he hit down the stretch were massive. | |
 C+ | D. Green32 MIN, 3 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 1-8 FG, 1-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 14 +/- Missed damn near everything. Really had the chance to gift the Raptors this game over and over. Defense was good, and diligent. He’s been atrocious shooting the ball in the playoffs (relative to himself). | |
 F | F. VanVleet18 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -18 +/- One of the major bench players in the league is now an absolute train wreck for his teams offense. His defense was sharp, but man, he tanks the Raptors everytime he’s out there. The ball is flat by the time it leaves his hands. | |
 D | N. Powell16 MIN, 3 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -17 +/- Can’t help but think things would go better if he could play away from Fred. With that being said, he’s a big part of a terrible bench unit right now. | |
 D- | S. Ibaka13 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -12 +/- Embiid is tough, I get it. The repeated, simple, mental errors are incredibly frustrating, though. It was a very good thing that his minutes were so low, and a very bad thing that he played most of them against Embiid. | |
 Inc | J. Meeks1 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- Really bad stretch. | |
 F | Nick Nurse He’s handing over 4-5 minutes of the game to the 76ers for no reason every game. The Embiid/Gasol minutes that he’s not matching are such an easy fix that he’s ignored. Left Gasol and Leonard out of the game for far too long in the fourth. The decision to remain stagnant on lineups out of that timeout, only to call for Leonard to check in after the 76ers scored is really appalling. | |
Things We Saw
- Ben Simmons was awesome on Leonard tonight, and that was just one of the correct adjustments Brett Brown made. Shoutout to Ben Simmons for letting Jimmy Butler take the reigns on offense and digging his heels into his defensive assignment. Big-time.
- Missing open shots will always be tough, and the fact that they were the ones that the 76ers were conceding early on compounded every offensive problem the Raptors have had this year into one half. It was a nightmare, and I’m pretty disappointed with Nurse’s response.
- Sometimes, James Ennis and Greg Monroe win you games, I guess? Serious concerns with how bad the Raptors bench has been, and it really starts with Fred. Almost every possession leads to a switch that he can’t take advantage of, and he eats up the shot-clock for no reason. Something has to give with his game, or how he’s being used.
