The 76ers losing streak in Toronto expanded to 14 games. Raptors won Game 1 108-95, taking a 1-0 series lead in this Eastern Conferee Semifinal. It's only the second time in Toronto's franchise history that they won a series opener at home.
Joel Embiid had arguably his worst game of the playoffs—getting bad looks on offense, while being rather ineffective defensively. Embiid's best defensive play was a block he had in a Mountain Dew Ice commercial. Yeah, it was that bad. The big guy finished with only 16 points on five-for-18 from the floor in 30 minutes. He took only six foul shots. If the Sixers are going to upset the Raptors, Embiid needs to prove he's an elite NBA talent. That wasn't the case Saturday night.
At the same time, Kawhi Leonard displayed why he's one of the best players in the league. The Sixers simply couldn't stop him.
*1st Quarter Takes (39-31 TOR)
Raptors 13 Straight Buckets
Toronto took an early double digit lead as a result of 13 straight Raptors makes and the Sixers inability to cover Leonard and Pascal Siakam. They scored 17 a piece after 12 minutes—34 of their team's 39 points.
It didn't matter if Jimmy Butler or James Ennis were on Leonard. It didn't matter if Tobias Harris or even Jonah Bolden (awful matchup) were on Siakam. Both got whatever they wanted offensively.
Nurse Out Coached Brown
Leonard and Siakam were both shooting seven-for-nine after one, but Brett Brown didn't help himself by going to his bench about midway through the quarter—significantly earlier than Nurse went to his reserves. Furkan Korkmaz was one of the first guys off the bench for Philadelphia due to the injury to Mike Scott. Yikes.
*2nd Quarter Takes (61-52 TOR)
Embiid Not Even Close To Good Enough
By the first timeout of the quarter, which came with 8:26 to go before halftime, Embiid was 4-for-10 for 11 points. While Embiid was certainly aggressive, he wasn't shooting a great percertange. It needed to be better. Luckily for the Sixers, they were only down three.
Simmons Not Aggressive Enough
A late second half surge by Ben Simmons left him with 10 points at the break, but he needed to be aggressive much earlier than the closing moments of the second quarter. If you're five-for-six from the floor after 18 minutes of personal action, you need to be taking more shots.
Downhill, driving to the lane Ben Simmons is the best version of the 76ers point guard.
Redick Ineffective
JJ Redick had a giant donut hole at halftime—going 0-for-4 from distance for zero points. Redick is a very good player for the Sixers, but he's not in there for his defense. Redick got hot later, but it would've helped if he got going earlier.
Mike Scott Absence Costly
Jonah Bolden took three shots before halftime, and with all due respect, that's three too many.
Sixers Needed To Take Away One of Toronto's Scorers
Brown used a timeout with 6:31 left in the second quarter, as the Sixers were trailing 49-41. Leonard had 21 points and Siakam 20. One of those guys needed to b slowed down. Make someone else beat you because no one else can do what Leonard and Siakam can. Kawhi ended up with 27 points at halftime on 10-for-14 from the floor, and six-for-six from the foul line. The 76ers took six foul shots as a team at this point.
They couldn't stick Kawhi or Siakam, who combined for 49 of their 61 first half points, on 19-for-25 shooting. Siakam only scored two points in the second half, but it didn't matter. He was remarkable in the first half, as was Leonard.
*3rd Quarter Takes (92-81 TOR)
Turnovers A Problem Again
Redick finally caught fire, hitting four three's to start the second half, putting the Sixers down four. But, Toronto went on a 10-0 run, forcing a timeout with 6:59 left in the 3rd quarter as the Raptors matched their largest lead at 14.
At this point in the third, the Sixers committed five turnovers in those 5 minutes, 1 second alone. They had 13 in the game that turned into 17 Toronto points.
They committed over 20 turnovers a game in their two regular season losses at the Raptors. It's essential the Sixers take care of the ball. Toronto is too good.
Raptors Exclamation Point
The Sixers were trying to stick with the Raptors, but Leonard made an emphatic block that turned into a Siakam breakaway slam. On Toronto's next offensive possession, Leonard found Danny Green in the corner for a three-pointer that put their lead at 86-70 with 3:17 to go in the third. Brown was forced to call a timeout. Things weren't going well.
Sixers Made It A Game
76ers went on a 9-1 run to close the quarter, trailing by only 11 heading to the fourth. While Toronto was in control most of the way, in no way did the Sixers quit.
*4th Quarter Takes (108-95 TOR)
Awful Start To The Fourth
While the Sixers made a push at the end of the third to make the deficit respectable, Toronto wasted no time increasing the lead, and they didn't even need Leonard.
Fred Van Vleet got by Simmons on a screen and pulled up for a jumper. Then, Jimmy Butler committed the Sixers 14th turnover, which became a Serge Ibaka dunk. Raptors went up 96-81 with 11:18 to play in the fourth.
Leonard Surpassed 40-Point Mark
With just over eight minutes left in the game, Butler came in for Embiid, but Harris found himself on Leonard at this point instead of Butler. Leonard subsequently made a three-pointer and a two with Harris on him to reach the 41-point mark on 15-for-20 shooting at that point.
He was unstoppable, scoring 45 points on 16-for-23 shooting, three-for-seven from deep and 10-for-11 from the foul line. Dominant. Simply dominant. He remains undefeated against the 76ers.
Assessing Butler's and Harris' Night
If Embiid is going to be underwhelming, the Sixers will be in serious trouble this series.
But, if the two starters the Sixers pulled off blockbuster deals for in season to compete in games like this are going to be bad too, the thing will be over in four games. Butler scored 10 points on four-for-12. Harris 14 points on six-for 17.
