BIG TIME WIN IN PHILLY.
 | Raptors | 115 | Final Box Score | 109 | 76ers |  |
 B- | P. Achiuwa30 MIN, 4 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 1-10 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2- FT, 3 BLK, 1 TO, +9 +/- He’s struggled all season in any sort of pick ‘n roll option but did manage to finish a couple tonight (albeit awkwardly). Much like Boucher, it’s almost like they see Scottie Barnes’ point-forward play and ask themselves, if he can do it then why not me? To his credit, he won a big jump ball against Drummond which would’ve given Philly the ball with the lead with 1:32 left. The overall defense was also good so it’s mostly the offense that leaves one wanting. | ||||||||
 A | O. Anunoby39 MIN, 20 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 7-15 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4- FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -7 +/- Elite playmaking. Forget about the scoring, we know he can do that and will only get better. What we’re now seeing is him taking guys off the dribble in 1v1 situations and picking out shooters while help is coming on the drives. Him finding Fred to ice the game is Exhibit A. | ||||||||
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 A- | S. Barnes39 MIN, 13 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 6-13 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1- FT, 2 BLK, 2 TO, +11 +/- They used to say Dennis Rodman knew where the ball was going after a rebound. Scottie has a similar sense on the glass and is well-positioned every time. Had a chance to run the offense with no PG in a couple lineups, and I can see him and Banton forming a decent ball-handling duo giving defense something to think about. As for his production, this game was more of the same: high quality decisions, efficient shooting and strong defense. What a pick. | ||||||||
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 A+ | F. VanVleet40 MIN, 32 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL, 11-22 FG, 6-11 3FG, 4- FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +14 +/- You don’t associate him with putting pressure on the defense because so far in his career he’s tended to operate on the periphery. This year he’s realizing that he needs to help out in softening the middle of defenses, and the best way of going about it is either pushing it in transition which he was brilliant at tonight, and cutting off the ball, which he got a couple scores from. However, when the game slows down there’s still rut in the sets, as we saw in the late Philly run when transition buckets weren’t freely available. Those are situations where he benefits from playing off the ball, especially with OG handling the ball and looking for him. | ||||||||
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 B+ | G. Trent Jr.36 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 7-16 FG, 4-9 3FG, 2- FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, +1 +/- Having a pure shooter who’s not afraid to take big shots is a luxury in itself, but when you don’t necessarily have to call plays for them and instead rely on their feel and basketball IQ to find their game, you get Gary Trent Jr. He’s easily playable in any lineup and we even saw him handle the ball on a key possession coming out of a timeout. He’s becoming an indispensable asset who has bailed the Raptors out on the tail end of a clock many times. | ||||||||
 A- | C. Boucher24 MIN, 17 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 7-12 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2- FT, 2 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- Started off brutally trying to be point forward but his night took a turn for the brilliant after hitting a three which seemed to free him up from the shackles of shitiness. He was trailing plays in transition, presenting himself instead of idling, and taking shots set up for him, instead of trying to manufacture, which is what the defense wants of him. | ||||||||
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 C+ | D. Banton16 MIN, 4 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2- FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, +3 +/- Many fans have been calling for a little more Banton and tonight we saw him handling the ball the bulk of the time he was in there. He combines well with Fred and Scottie, but once you throw him in a lineup with Boucher and Precious, things become a little unwieldy on the court in terms of spacing. He needs to develop his shot, though. The defense pays him no attention on the perimeter leading to congestion making his drives harder to execute. | ||||||||
 A+ | S. Mykhailiuk16 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 2-5 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0- FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +3 +/- Didn’t play poorly in the first half but Nurse went with Banton as the secondary ball-handler for the majority of the second. BUT, came back midway through the fourth and hit an absolutely massive three, a steal from behind and a contested rebound which led to an OG three. Gotta love guys who can come in cold and contribute. | ||||||||
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 A- | Nick Nurse Experimented with lineup combinations including one consisting of Barnes, Banton, Achiuwa, Trent and Boucher. That didn’t go well. What did go well is him going to a zone in the third quarter which bewildered Philly for a good six minutes. Had some nice out of timeout plays in the second half as well, but his masterpiece stroke might’ve been to pull Svi off the bench in the fourth. | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- Nick Nurse’s zone defense in the third changed the tide of the game because it forced Philly to pass the ball around and find holes in the defense instead of just hurting the Raptors for being aggressive on defense.
- The Raptors defense is far from perfect, especially in stopping dribble penetration. But they have it in them to lock a team down for a 2-3 minute stretch almost on demand. We saw that as they ended the game on a 9-0 run.
