The Philadelphia 76ers are back in action on Saturday evening hosting the Toronto Raptors after two much-needed days off.
And, of course, it’s the start of a back-to-back. This is already the Sixers’ third back-to-back of the 2025-26 campaign — they have 16 total across the season. After taking on the Raptors on Saturday, they will face the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. At least both games are home for this one…
It’s also the first game the Sixers will be wearing the black, 2000-01 era jerseys! So at
the very least, the team and the court should look good.
The last few days of respite came at a good time for the Sixers, who are coming off two losses this past Tuesday (at the Chicago Bulls) and Wednesday (visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers). The first looked extremely promising for Philadelphia at the beginning, with the Sixers amassing a 24-point lead at one point. A second-half collapse punctuated by zero field goals scored in the last 6:26 to play, however, let the Bulls steal that one away. The second contest of the week, visiting the Cavaliers, was more of a blowout defeat. Cleveland decimated Philadelphia 132-121 (which makes it sound like a closer contest than it really ever was) on Wednesday, greatly benefitting from having Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley all available for the first time this season.
That Wednesday loss was also, notably, VJ Edgecombe’s first truly rough game of his young career. The rookie scored just seven points — his first single-digit scoring game — on 3-for-14 (21.4%) field goal shooting and 0-for-5 from long range. That one game in itself is less important, in my opinion, than how he could bounce back on Saturday. He has been playing an incredible amount of time on the floor (38.5 minutes per game, trailing only Tyrese Maxey’s 41.3 for the Sixers), so hopefully the small break did him some good.
Now, we move on to the Raptors. Toronto is coming into South Philadelphia less than 24 hours removed from defeating the Atlanta Hawks 109-97 on Friday night in a NBA Cup group play game. The Raptors are red-hot right now, riding a four-game win streak after a rough 1-4 start to open their season. The Hawks actually had the advantage for most of last night’s game before the Raptors bit back in the final frame, outscoring Atlanta 36-20 to take over the lead and the victory.
Toronto have widespread ability across their youthful roster — they have just one player 30 or older, with center Jakob Poeltl having turned 30 just a few weeks ago. Three players are currently neck-and-neck to lead the team for scoring through their first nine contests: Brandon Ingram (21.0 points per game), RJ Barrett (20.6) and Scottie Barnes (20.1). Immanuel Quickley is the squad’s leading playmaker averaging 6.3 assists in addition to his 13.6 points and 1.6 steals per game.
Overall, this Raptors team is resilient in the face of deficits, shooting the ball incredibly well and riding the momentum of turning around the start of their season. It’s a dangerous combination that the Sixers will have to try to contain.
The Sixers’ injury report has Jared McCain (injury management) listed as available for Saturday’s game, though he remains on a minutes restriction, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters at practice on Friday. Joel Embiid’s name did not appear at all on the report. Of course nothing is certain until the team takes the floor, but it sounds like Philadelphia plan to use Embiid for the Raptors rather than for the Pistons on Sunday, assuming they stick to the plan of not having him feature in both games of back-to-backs.
Otherwise, Paul George (knee surgery recovery) and Dominick Barlow (elbow laceration) both remain out.
The Raptors injury report will not be available until Saturday afternoon. For what it’s worth, the Raptors did not rest anyone in their starting five (Barrett, Ingram, Poeltl, Barnes, Quickley) in either game of a previous back-to-back this season. We will let you know their official availabilities, though, when that information is released.
The Sixers and Raptors tip off at 7:30 p.m ET.
Game Details
When: Saturday, November 8, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
