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

[wegotthabeet]

76ers in 6

6ers in 6 in the 6.

[Perseus1966]

i would play Reed together with Joel

[witnessraps]

This is the exact matchup I wanted as a Raptors fan. This is going to be a fun series for us having no expectations coming in to the season while Sixers have championship aspirations. We have the better coach and while Joel will eat, I have confidence that our long defenders can slow down the rest of their team. Raps in 6, Philly fans boo the crap out of their own team at least 2 times in the series

[Exp0sed]

That's exactly what I said..Because the Raps are so comfortable switching (that is a big reason why the Raps are such a bad matchup for the Sixers, the Raps are very unique that way..no switch to 'hunt') added to the fact that Harden isn't a real scoring threat (or at least at a level that the Raps will live with) - The Pnr will fail to put Toronto in those uncomfortable positions...they will just stay with Embiid and dare Harden to hit those mid range floaters. IF he can...that will be a diff story and Philly should win in 5 quite easily.

The raps almost have to double Embiid on the roll, or at least some shadowing...trying to deny him the ball down low from the front and the back, that will leave a lot of space for Harden but he needs to be a real scoring threat otherwise Raps will live with the results imo

Eh, I don't think that's grounded in bball reality but guess there's no point arguing too deep when we get to see it in action in a few days. You're maybe creating a caricature of Harden here--yes he's not his old MVP self but he's still a very good driver and finisher with a good shot, and he'll absolutely get to the basket or get fouled if you leave him a lane off the pn'r. It's not real basketball talk to say 'they Raptors can just double Embiid and leave him alone.' And as I said above, the point of the pn'r is very rarely to force a switch for a guy to iso against--it's used far more often in almost very NBA game to create little gaps either for the ball-handler or the diver/roller, to get the defense to over- or under-play something or miscommunicate, etc. Being switchable makes it a little easier to defend but it doesn't just flat stop it; every time down there's multiple threats to contain and you just have to play it right every time.

I guess it's obvious that Harden can't be an awful, bricked-out version of himself for the Sixers to have a chance, but I don't get why multiple folks on here seem to insist that his entire offensive game is founded on him switching onto bigs and then iso-attacking them. I really don't know how well it's going to work, and I'm Really not trying to argue that he'll totally house the Raptors in the pn'r. Just saying that that's the Harden you're probably going to see a lot of (instead of the guy miserably forcing iso drives like that last TOR-PHI game) and that it'll be a pretty different equation for the Raptors on the defenisve end.

I think what he was saying is that the Raptors will switch on the Harden-Embiid pnrs, leaving a long and quick defender to stymie Harden's ability to complete the pass to Joel, to shoot himself, or to drive... while bringing a quick double/help on Embiid if he's getting the ball on the roll.

The Raptors can't stop Joel the way Gasol did in 19, so they can only try to contain him as best they can. Keeping the ball out of his hands is one way, and doubles are the other. They happen to be among the best in the league at these two things, so there's hope that they'll be at least somewhat successful, which then forces Harden, Maxey and Harris to play above their averages to win, and there's decent to excellent ability to contain those guys also.

It's gonna be a fun series.

Yup, that's exactly what I was saying

[lobosloboslobos]

/Raps in 4.

the only answer

[bbalnation]

As a Raptor fan, im thrilled this young team gets to go up against Joel.

Giannis or KD would have been great too, from a development POV. If the future is longer wings and positionless basketball (which it could be): it'll be interesting to see what happens when a dominant big who can shoot the 3 steps in (which Joel already said on the Zach Lowe podcast: they just double team right away)

[mtcan]

76ers in 6

6ers in 6 in the 6.

Philly will be deep-sixed in 6...in the the 6. That's the war cry going forward.

[kwajo]

Should be a great series, could go either way but one thing is for certain: Raptors will lose Game 1 of Round 1, it has forever been thus.

[falcolombardi]

is a bit dissapointing that people still mock embiid for crying after a tough loss

god forbid people have emotions

[HotelVitale]

That's exactly what I said..Because the Raps are so comfortable switching (that is a big reason why the Raps are such a bad matchup for the Sixers, the Raps are very unique that way..no switch to 'hunt') added to the fact that Harden isn't a real scoring threat (or at least at a level that the Raps will live with) - The Pnr will fail to put Toronto in those uncomfortable positions...they will just stay with Embiid and dare Harden to hit those mid range floaters. IF he can...that will be a diff story and Philly should win in 5 quite easily.

The raps almost have to double Embiid on the roll, or at least some shadowing...trying to deny him the ball down low from the front and the back, that will leave a lot of space for Harden but he needs to be a real scoring threat otherwise Raps will live with the results imo

Eh, I don't think that's grounded in bball reality but guess there's no point arguing too deep when we get to see it in action in a few days. You're maybe creating a caricature of Harden here--yes he's not his old MVP self but he's still a very good driver and finisher with a good shot, and he'll absolutely get to the basket or get fouled if you leave him a lane off the pn'r. It's not real basketball talk to say 'they Raptors can just double Embiid and leave him alone.' And as I said above, the point of the pn'r is very rarely to force a switch for a guy to iso against--it's used far more often in almost very NBA game to create little gaps either for the ball-handler or the diver/roller, to get the defense to over- or under-play something or miscommunicate, etc. Being switchable makes it a little easier to defend but it doesn't just flat stop it; every time down there's multiple threats to contain and you just have to play it right every time. I guess it's obvious that Harden can't be an awful, bricked-out version of himself for the Sixers to have a chance, but I don't get why multiple folks on here seem to insist that his entire offensive game is founded on him switching onto bigs and then iso-attacking them. I really don't know how well it's going to work, and I'm Really not trying to argue that he'll totally house the Raptors in the pn'r. Just saying that that's the Harden you're probably going to see a lot of (instead of the guy miserably forcing iso drives like that last TOR-PHI game) and that it'll be a pretty different equation for the Raptors on the defenisve end.

I think what he was saying is that the Raptors will switch on the Harden-Embiid pnrs, leaving a long and quick defender to stymie Harden's ability to complete the pass to Joel, to shoot himself, or to drive... while bringing a quick double/help on Embiid if he's getting the ball on the roll.

Well that's a fine point but other people have been explicitly saying 'switching will prevent mismatches.' Setting that aside I'm just saying that TOR doesn't have a magic solution to the pn'r, since there's no way to stymie the pn'r--defending it well is about timing and executing well. Switching doesn't challenge the basic strategy of pn'r for getting into the teeth of the defense, couple reasons off top for why:
1) If the pick is remotely effective and the team switches, there's still an open lane on the roll since the picked defender has been caught up and is behind the play
2) even if a team switches everything with no ambiguity and the pick isn't super effective, one or both defenders can be off on the timing of when to switch, which leads to leaving space for either the ballhandler to attack or the roller to be open for a dive
3) getting a smaller player to switch to the big or just getting the ball to the big on the dive--especially through splitting the defenders with a pass (which Harden is great at)--still means you're going to have to send help.

I'll shut up about it after this, but my larger point is really just that the Harden/Embiid pn'r is going to be a big thing in this series and we haven't really seen how the Raptors will handle it. In some ways I think it'll be THE story of the series (that and how well Siakam and FVV are at making tough shots) and I do think TOR will be better than most at making that tough, but it's still going to work if Harden and Embiid execute well and the shooters can hit shots. You know, regular basketball stuff between good teams. But it'll look a lot different than the type of Harden-barrelling-into-defneders isos we saw recently.

[Quattro]

is a bit dissapointing that people still mock embiid for crying after a tough loss

god forbid people have emotions

I hear you but Joel kind of asks for it with his constant trolling and trash talking when things are going well.

I did feel for the guy when I watched this in real time. That series was easily Toronto’s toughest during that playoff run and I can’t even imagine what it felt like for a player to battle so hard for 7 games and then lose like that.

[lobosloboslobos]

Really impressed with the Raps and think they have a really bright future. Their one kryptonite might be trying to defend an Embiid type center though. Ultimately I will go with the Sixers but it won't be easy.

Oddly they've been one of the best teams at defending Embiid this season.

They've been awesome at defending Embiid. Quick doubles but not in a predictable way, with long active arms from the other defenders contesting his passing lanes. It's thrown him off for sure, in my mind they bothered him the most of any team (although I wasn't taking notes or anything).

That said, I feel like the Raptors haven't really faced the full-on Harden/Embiid pn'r game, and I think that'll be a much better set for the Sixers than Embiid isos in this series. Hopefully Doc makes ample use of that, cuz the post-ups are much more work and much more room for mistakes against a team like TOR.

the thing is p'n'r doesn't work very well against the Raptors because they are so long and disruptive and fast. In fact according to this article in the Ringer today:

Four Raptors (Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby) are in the top 10 of the NBA in defensive distance traveled. Three players (VanVleet, Siakam, and Gary Trent Jr.) are in the top 10 in deflections per game.

This disruption has a way of pulling teams away from what they’d rather be doing. The Raptors want teams to speed up. They see your comfort zone and say “nah.” Toronto defends fewer handoffs or picks per 100 possessions than any team in the league, likely because it so often forces teams out of their set offenses, and it’s second in the league in turnovers forced.

[Dick Tate]

It probably depends on how much good a week off does for Harden.

[Reeko]

The series should not be a cake walk for either team. With that being said, out of the top 4 teams in the conference Philly was definitely my preferred 1st round opponent. Should be a fun series, no matter the outcome.

Raps in 6.

[Kash22]

The sixers have one of the best offenses since harden has arrived, they have had big leads on the raptors but once they go to the bench the lead disappears, I don’t think the raptors can contain the sixers starting unit so it comes down to the second unit minutes

[niQ]

The series starts at Game 2, because we all know Raptors are notorious for losing Game 1.

[Duffman100]

The series starts at Game 2, because we all know Raptors are notorious for losing Game 1.

We lost to Orlando in our championship year. I mean... cmonnnnn

[pingpongrac]

Embiid VS Toronto since 20/21
26.5 PPG (40/25/86 shooting splits)
13.2 REB (2.0 OREB)
2.7 AST (3.5 TOV)
+37 in 219 MIN
3-3 record

Embiid is still putting up big numbers against Toronto the past 2 seasons, but he is doing it rather inefficiently even though he's getting to the line ~13 times per game. Despite the underwhelming percentages (and <1 AST/TO ratio), he has still been a very positive impact player against Toronto. The problem, as it tends to be with the Sixers, is that they have been really bad in the Embiid-less minutes; they are -35 in 69 minutes without Embiid in the 6 games he played against Toronto since 2020/21 (and -6 in the game he missed).

I think Doc might have to overplay his starters – especially Embiid – or things can get really dicey for Philly when Toronto runs their big lineups that completely dominated the Sixers' mostly bench lineups recently; the Barnes/GTJ/Siakam/Boucher/Achiuwa lineup was +12 in 14 minutes and Barnes/GTJ/Thad/Boucher/Achiuwa was +12 in 8 minutes.

[RoyceDa59]

Philly in 7 but Doc is going to get badly outcoached, Harden is going to be bad for a lot of the series and Thybulle is a dumbass.

But Embiid will be the difference

I’ll go with this take.

[Vampirate]

This is one of those series Barnes might struggle scoring in, mainly because of Embiid.

Let's see how the rookie does.