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

[Roco14]

Imagine if you went back a couple years and told someone that in the future a Raptors team without Lowry/Derozan/Kawhi with no big-time additions would have a decent chance of beating a team led by Harden & Embiid.

[macNcheese3]

Raptors in 6.

[tdot_steel]

One thing you can hang your hat on is the ability of the Raptors to defend Embiid.

5 of Embiid's 11 worst games as a pro are against the Raptors. The stats about his +90 is great. But he is shooting 42% in the regular season for his career and 37% in the playoff's. I will take those numbers.

Sixer's fans are happy to counter with how Toronto will defend Embiid. But how is Philly going to counter Barnes and OG....the 4th and 5th scoring options in the starting lineup? Philly has to defend and don't be surprised if Toronto targets whoever Harden is defending.

[greekbuck34]

I don't know what I'm looking forward the most.
The actually series of games or the post game interviews from Doc Rivers after a Loss.

[Backcountry]

I picked Raps in 7, but it could go either way. Raptors made it to where they are by playing a short bench since January. Lots of minutes for the starters, just like playoff basketball. This could mean that they are ready for this, and they don't even have to flip a switch.

On the flip side, other teams will now also start playing with a shorter bench, because it is win or go home. Perhaps the Raps have simply being winning because their opponents haven't been playing with the same intensity.

We'll see. I think it will come down to the final shot of game 7, it will bounce on the rim a few times, and...

[Jadoogar]

Read on Twitter

[UnbelievablyRAW]

13 pages already for 4/5 matchup lol

[Marty_Budda]

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

god forbid people have emotions

Lol we only do it cause he was acting like a clown all series doing airplane celebrations and whatnot. You can’t expect to troll the way he did and then not get trolled back when you’re crying cause you lost.

[Johnny Bball]

The series won't hing on anything the raptors do. It's just a matter of the sixers moving the ball around. Raptors and Nick Nurse defensive schemes count on Harden/Embiid iso ball and selective double teaming. This is a series Harris has to earn his contract money. Also a series Doc Rivers has got to play 4 starters 40 minutes each. Harris/embiid/Maxey/Harden. Series can go either way. I think game 1 winner will win the series though.

Lol. If Harden and especially Embiid aren't trying to iso, they are mailing it in and it's over in 4.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/isolation/?sort=PPP&dir=1

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/isolation/?sort=PLUSONE_POSS_PCT&dir=1

[TheBoi10]

Double Embiid consistently and force him into inefficent midrange shot he loves. Let Tobias Harris, Maxey and washed Harden try to beat us straight up; don't think they can. On the other side, they've proven to not have anyone who can guard Siakam hence why he's averaging a 30 point triple-double in this series. FVV and OG returning should more consistent shooters they we were missing in the last 2 games.

[dWadeOwnzYou]

OT. Could someone please tell me the name of this wrestling chic that I keep seeing as someone's avatar?

[JShuttlesworth]

OT. Could someone please tell me the name of this wrestling chic that I keep seeing as someone's avatar?

goldberg

[LoveMyRaps]

Watch on YouTube

[LoveMyRaps]

OT. Could someone please tell me the name of this wrestling chic that I keep seeing as someone's avatar?

Chyna

[LoveMyRaps]

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

Let's see how the rookie does.

He didn't score much in the regular season meetings either. Just need his stellar defense. He's done a terrific job defensively on Harden this season.

[greekbuck34]

Read on Twitter

The Bucks defense was also similar. We were doing the same against Ben Simmons too.

[HotelVitale]

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.

Already said too much on this in this thread but in short, yes, the Raptors are good at defense, no that doesn't mean that a Harden/Embiid pn'r is doomed against them. It's the Sixers' best set and there's no easy way to take it out. We'll see what happens, should be a good battle.

Also that article is just saying that teams run fewer picks than them because they try to force teams to run other things, not that they're so dominant at defending pn'r that no one even bothers.

[JShuttlesworth]

OT. Could someone please tell me the name of this wrestling chic that I keep seeing as someone's avatar?

Chyna

[ChampionRed]

Raptors may honestly win this one in 5. They're playing with ZERO pressure while the Sixers have a lot to prove as a team and individually. Really interested to see if Harden steps up in this series but I highly doubt it.

[jc23]

there is alot of raptor upset going on, to the point where the narrative is starting to make it seem less like an upset to a probable outcome.