Eastern Conference | Round 1 | (4) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) Toronto Raptors (PHI 3-2)

[Cubbies2120]

Will Embiid miss game 5 after his ankles were snatched?

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[SerialChiller]

Didn't Embiid say he told Nurse to stop crying about calls during game 2 or something...now look at the loser clapping at the refs lol.

[10giz]

Nurse is a war criminal with the minutes raps have played all season

Seriously, what the hell was that? Might be the worst minute management in NBA history when you add context to the way people play nowadays. Makes no sense to overplay your players so much.

This was brought up many times this year and although traditionally this has not turned out well for teams, this was not the case this year.

First of all, our guys mostly got better as the year went on. Barnes, Siakam, Boucher, Precious...all improved as the year went on and that's not an opinion. Not only did those players get better all around but their defensive effort and attention to detail really picked up and stamina seemed to be less of an issue as the year went on.

Second, unless someone knows exactly what tracking, load management and recovery processes the medical staff are using as well as what systems and programs used to ensure each players health is being prioritized, these types of comments are pretty much pointless and pure speculation.

OG suffered a badly broken finger as well as bruised hip which are random, contact related injuries that can happen to anyone at any point in the season. Trent previously suffered a sprained ankle in pre game warmups that caused him to miss some time.

Now Freds injury may be a different story. I have not seen any diagnosis of exactly what the injury is but I read that rest wouldn't help. This could have been due to overuse but without clarification and more information it would mostly be speculation.

Take it for what its worth but this is what Fred said when he was asked about the heavy minutes a few months ago:

Spoiler:

“If I didn’t want to be out there, I wouldn’t be,” he continued. “ I’m not playing any minutes I don’t want to play. Coach Nurse isn’t forcing anyone to play that doesn’t want to play. We signed up for this. We’ve got high-character guys, competitive guys, that like to be out there. We’ve all accepted that. Whatever comes with that, it is what it is. I wouldn’t put all of that on (Nurse). Some of it is on us as players as well: We enjoy the challenge of being out there and what comes with that.”

Conditioning is not a question when it comes to the three Raptors logging the most minutes. Age is not a factor either. But because VanVleet leads the league in minutes played and Siakam is close behind him, Nurse has been fielding a ton of questions about his short rotation and by extension the extended minutes his starters play.

But as VanVleet pointed out in response to another question about playing extended minutes, there are advantages to be gained by going that route as well.

“I think we’re just getting more and more comfortable with each other as the season goes on,” he said of the extra time the five starters — VanVleet, (Gary) Trent Jr., Anunoby, (Scottie) Barnes, and Siakam — are playing. “Pretty tight rotation. So we’re growing and learning each other. There’s a lot of room for ups and downs. And you know in the NBA guys get thirsty at different times and you kind of can wait it out when you’re playing more minutes versus having a short stint and you might not get as many touches as you’d like and may get frustrated. But when you’re out there, you know 40 minutes you can kind of let the game come to you a little bit more and pick your spot. So just that’s probably the biggest advantage,” VanVleet said.

In any case, would've absolutely helped having a stronger bench early in the year but those big minutes were most likely what allowed the team to find their footing, build chemistry and develop an identity which was crucial with the majority of the roster being either new to the team or very inexperienced.

In any case - fun game. Just need 1 more W and we got ourselves a series.

[Dubnation]

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[RaptorPride]

No better coach than Doc Rivers to be down 3-1 to

[Ballerhogger]

Didn't Embiid say he told Nurse to stop crying about calls during game 2 or something...now look at the loser clapping at the refs lol.

Lol Embiid crying about others getting foul calls . Harden really rubbed off him

[Ballerhogger]

No better coach than Doc Rivers to be down 3-1 to

Philly will win at home no way imo

[Ballerhogger]

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[Duffman100]

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Just no way the Raps can win 2 games in Philly.

[tdotrep2]

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[Bruin]

Same guy that was telling Nick to stop bitching about refs

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[Syd-TK3]

Wow lots of cope in the GB re: the Raps dim future. Thought it was known! Sorry to hit a sore spot.

Raptors will win another ring before the sixers do

[RaptorPride]

No better coach than Doc Rivers to be down 3-1 to

Philly will win at home no way imo

Just saying

[tdotrep2]

Same guy that was telling Nick to stop bitching about refs

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game 1 was even worse, what the **** is wrong with this dude

[Bruin]

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[Bruin]

Same guy that was telling Nick to stop bitching about refs

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game 1 was even worse, what the **** is wrong with this dude

Considering how many times he falls to the floor, he probably hit his head a few times

[kieferli]

Wow lots of cope in the GB re: the Raps dim future. Thought it was known! Sorry to hit a sore spot.

Raptors will win another ring before the sixers do

I don’t see they will win the Est Even if they Beat Raptors

[Wolfgang630]

I don’t think I’ve seen a player fall so many times on the floor since Allen Iverson

[mtcan]

Same guy that was telling Nick to stop bitching about refs

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game 1 was even worse, what the **** is wrong with this dude

Considering how many times he falls to the floor, he probably hit his head a few times

Either he is the most clumsy 7 footer ever or he is baiting for fouls. Either way...not a good look from a supposed MVP.

[G R E Y]

lol just watched a snippet of Embiid's post-game reffing comments.

10/10 for the sarcastic comments in addition to the clap.

Annnnnd here comes a fine.