Things have been a bit rough in Toronto as of late, with the Raptors suffering a spate of injuries to key players. They will again play without both Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard, as they did in Wednesday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics. The date of Barnes’s return is still TBD (Kawhi will undoubtedly be out for a while longer).
They’ve won just two of their last six and will be looking to hold down the fort on the second night of a back-to-back, all while missing some key players. The Raps
will need young players like Ja’Kobe Walter and Collin Murray-Boyles to step up, especially if Barnes is still out. Can Toronto do enough on their own home court to keep their record from dipping below .500?
Know thy enemy
Unfortunately for Toronto, Philadelphia 76ers are off to a great start, but they’ve been a bit of an odd team so far. For all of their offensive talent — a starting lineup featuring LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey (not to mention Anfernee Simons off the bench) is absolutely bonkers — they’re just 21st in the NBA in offensive efficiency so far this year.
They don’t really shoot (or make) threes, partly a result of swapping Paul George for a more downhill player in Brown, and they don’t generate extra opportunities by crashing the offensive glass. They’re also surprisingly low in assists, especially considering the playmaking gifts of James and, to a lesser extent, Embiid, owed no doubt to some issues with spacing, a coach not exactly known for offensive ingenuity, and a lineup that’s still largely unaccustomed to playing together.
It also doesn’t help that Embiid is….well, if not cooked, then certainly in the process of being marinated. His recent injuries seem to have sapped him of his mobility and, while his skill is beyond question, you don’t really ever want to see a 7-footer hitting just 37% of his shots from the field (nor a ghastly 12.1% from three), albeit in a small sample size.
They’re also a bit thin aside from having a few useful perimeter players off the bench; their only actual backup centre is Adem Bona, who is shooting a whole percentage point better than Embiid from the field. Needless to say, they could use a boost on the interior. It’s great news for the Raptors, who are a bit lacking in interior size themselves, and who aren’t an especially good defensive rebounding team (23rd in the league in defensive rebound rate).
The Sixers have been a pretty solid defensive team though, with the seventh-best defensive rating in the league, and, while Embiid may not be able to switch onto guards anymore, he’s still a smart defender who can be an obstacle in the paint. His declining lateral quickness is less of a disadvantage of a team like Toronto that doesn’t space the floor exceptionally well.
On the last episode
These Sixers are very different from last year’s team and this will be the first time they face off against the Bron-and-Brown version of Philly. That being said, the two teams split the season series last year, 2-2, with both squads winning once at home and once on the road.
Key matchup(s)
LeBron and Embiid vs various ligaments might be the true matchup of the game. Both players are listed as questionable on the NBA’s official injury report, as is Adem Bona. If neither of them play, Toronto won’t exactly be facing a murderer’s row of big men on Thursday night, with the Sixers almost certainly having to call players up from the G League or play some very funky small-ball lineups to get by. Maybe we’ll get 30 minutes of Tacko Fall. Who knows!
Besides that, the Raptors will likely need RJ Barrett to outduel Brown, and Immanuel Quickley, who struggled to score against Boston, to keep pace with Maxey. It’s not quite the marquee matchup fans hoped for after both teams’ major offseason moves, but it could be a fun one nonetheless.
