Weigh anchor and let’s make for Lakeshore Drive, the lads didn’t have their sea legs tonight.
 | TOR Raptors | 104 | Final Box Score | 110 | PHI 76ers |  |
 C | P. Siakam36 MIN, 16 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 7-18 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-3 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/- Real tough game tonight. Gave Harris way too much space to work early on, and couldn’t find the space on offense. Simmons was attacking space with purpose tonight and Siakam was doing the opposite on the other end. There’s going to be games like this, he’s growing as a star. However (comma) he’s still the incumbent star of this team and this was a true let-down game. | |
 A+ | O. Anunoby35 MIN, 19 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 5 STL, 8-14 FG, 2-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- Dynamite. An absolute terror on the offensive end, and terrorized the 76ers as a weak-side threat in this one. A terrific return to form, and one of the bright spots in this one. | |
 A- | M. Gasol30 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 0-6 FG, 0-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 9 +/- In the game for the express purpose of guarding Embiid, and through a bit of absent mindedness he picked up early fouls and wasn’t able to tag his minutes to Embiid’s all the way through. With that said, he was great on Embiid. Tough night offensively, but we know that’s not his role, especially with Lowry and Siakam both in the lineup. | |
 A | K. Lowry38 MIN, 26 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 7-14 FG, 4-8 3FG, 8-9 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 0 +/- Dragged the Raptors kicking & screaming through large parts of this game. Tireless work to push in transition, and lots of terrific downhill decision making in this one, but wasn’t able to coax the Raptors into becoming anything like a top-10 offense. Maybe spent a little bit too much time foul hunting? But the Raptors offense was so stagnant, I understand the urge. | |
 Inc | F. VanVleet12 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/- Get better soon. | |
 B | S. Ibaka28 MIN, 12 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 5-15 FG, 2-5 3FG, 0-1 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -2 +/- Weird night as the 76ers pushed the short-roll back and took away the dive completely. Was asked to stretch the floor and did his darndest. Squaring up against Embiid-Simmons-Horford is tough, and he did his thing. You get the feeling that he could’ve shot 75-percent from the floor and it wouldn’t have changed anything. Lowry & co. weren’t able to get him the ball in many advantageous spots. | |
 C+ | N. Powell23 MIN, 8 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-8 FG, 1-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, -12 +/- Bit of a letdown game. Powell is usually able to do what Anunoby did offensively in this game (maybe not to that extent) as an off-ball threat, but that wasn’t the case tonight. It’s tough for tertiary players to make waves when the primary creators are creating very little, though. | |
 B- | T. Davis17 MIN, 6 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -8 +/- It’s a big ask for him to create against a 76ers defense performing as well as they did. Especially sans Fred VanVleet. I thought he did a bang-up job, though. Defensively he fell asleep a couple times, and he’s still foul prone and a little out of control. But that same tenacity helps him make his presence known on the defensive glass. Mixed bag. | |
 B+ | R. Hollis-Jefferson16 MIN, 12 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 4-6 FG, 1-2 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -16 +/- Can really find the space against this 76ers defense. He seems to be the 76ers version of Gerald Henderson. But, he also cramped the spacing a bit as the Raptors looked like they couldn’t escape the long arms of the 76ers, and that’s reflected in his +/-. He was still good, though! | |
 Inc | C. Boucher4 MIN, 3 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- Make it rain!! | |
 C | Nick Nurse It’s clear the Raptors switch up top and close-out defense has slipped a little bit, as the defense hasn’t been able to catch up to the ball in recent games. So, do you abandon that in place of something else or assume you’ll regain the earlier form you had, albeit with a couple different pieces – who should be able to execute it. The style in which they initiated Siakam’s offense was pretty uninspired, and certainly worse than we’ve seen before. A weak gameplan for a division rival doesn’t look good for anyone, especially against a team where Siakam had one of his most mature performance as a star just a little while ago. Tough game. | |
Things We Saw
- Thybulle is a boss. A version of Andre Roberson that had people believing in him much earlier, and one that is extending his range. The length of the 76ers allows him to gamble and act as a ball-hawk on defense and he’s wonderful in that role. The 76ers should be as excited about him as we are about TD2.
- Even though the Raptors were overzealous with the doubling (again), Gasol still did a very good job on Embiid. And man, if these two teams meet in the playoffs – and they might – the Raptors are going to give the 76ers so much hell.
- The sky isn’t falling, the 76ers shot better than usual in this one and the Raptors defense was sloppier than usual in close-outs and help-side actions. A 3-game losing streak is far from ideal, but the Raptors are going to figure it out.
- Involving OG Anunoby in curl plays, or as a primary or secondary option in horns is fantastic. Get that big body going towards the rim. His touch seems to be getting better as well. Cool development in the Raptors offense.
