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

[SelfishPlayer]

The treadmilling Raptors are getting swept. Too bad they are whining while implementing a failed game plan of consistently fouling hoping to get the Sixers out of offensive rhythm.

[LloydFree]

Where did all the Raptors fans go. This thread on their board is to funny. Raptors fans are the biggest trolls at times.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2185152

... There's a thread on the front pages of the team board, full of comments celebrating receiving Precious Achiuwa for Kyle Lowry, instead of "settling" for Tyrese Maxey at the trade deadline last year.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2184642

[sixers4real]

I can’t believe this fact, but I love it:
Doc is better then Nurse in this series. All Nusre had done is ******** about the officiating

Lol lol lol

[Green Backpack]

No idea why Trent has even played in these first 2 games as he's obviously at like 30%. It's unfortunate as he's a really important piece for the Raptors.

[LordCovington33]

I can’t believe this fact, but I love it:
Doc is better then Nurse in this series. All Nusre had done is ******** about the officiating

Lol lol lol

Talking to (or should I say pleading to) an opposing player surprised me. Embiid was happy to do it though, listening while collecting rent from the space in Nurse’s head. Nurse was all out of sorts today. Not good if you are looking for inspiration from your coach.

[fbalmeida]

Raptors levelled the game in terms of possessions this time. They were themselves in terms of turnovers and offensive boards.
Now they have to figure out how to leverage that a little further - possessions advantage was supposed to be one of their key advantages - and not let Philly shoot 52% from the field and 47% from 3pt.

I didn't mind the idea of letting Philly force feed Embiid. He was lucky to have finished this game given the amount of contact.

Considering that Barnes and Trent are both on the fritz, I'd say funnelling everything to Embiid and throwing everything at him, and letting the wear and tear take its toll, is our best shot at this point. A long one for sure.

At this point, I wouldn't underestimate Nurse's ingenuity and Doc's proclivity to completely lose his grip on a playoff series.

[SelfishPlayer]

Raptors levelled the game in terms of possessions this time. They were themselves in terms of turnovers and offensive boards.
Now they have to figure out how to do leverage that a little further - possessions advantage was supposed to be one of their key advantages - and not let Philly shoot 52% from the field and 47% from 3pt.

I didn't mind the idea of letting Philly force feed Embiid. He was lucky to have finished this game given the amount of contact.

Considering that Barnes and Trent are both on the fritz, I'd say funnelling everything to Embiid and throwing everything at him, and letting the wear and tear take its toll, is our best shot at this point. A long one for sure.

At this point, I wouldn't underestimate Nurse's ingenuity and Doc's proclivity to completely lose his grip on a playoff series.

That's not basketball, that's football.

[fbalmeida]

Raptors levelled the game in terms of possessions this time. They were themselves in terms of turnovers and offensive boards.
Now they have to figure out how to do leverage that a little further - possessions advantage was supposed to be one of their key advantages - and not let Philly shoot 52% from the field and 47% from 3pt.

I didn't mind the idea of letting Philly force feed Embiid. He was lucky to have finished this game given the amount of contact.

Considering that Barnes and Trent are both on the fritz, I'd say funnelling everything to Embiid and throwing everything at him, and letting the wear and tear take its toll, is our best shot at this point. A long one for sure.

At this point, I wouldn't underestimate Nurse's ingenuity and Doc's proclivity to completely lose his grip on a playoff series.

That's not basketball, that's football.

It's biology. Athletes tire and fatigue at a slower rate than normal mortals, but they still tire. Getting Embiid a free clump of early offensive efficiency at the cost of physical exertion and exhaustion seems to have rendered a slightly better result yesterday than game 1's alternative of letting everyone except Embiid and Harden score at will.

[fbalmeida]

During the regular season, Philly shot 46.6% - 36.4% and 58% TS.
In this series thus far they're at: 51.6% - 48.4% (!!!!) and 67.1%.

Meanwhile, the Raptors are shooting very close, and slightly above, their regular season averages.

Small sample size of course, but those Philly rates are either sustainable, and something has gone dramatically wrong with the Raptors' 10th best rated defense, or it isn't sustainable and Raptors will even this up.

This series isn't over.

[Elnegron]

So about the refs....

Well played, sir.

I am a little surprised that the Raptors haven't tried to play more zone. The Sixers have absolutely struggled with the zone in games this season. They certainly have the length to crowd Harden and Maxey on the perimeter. The Raptors actually did some nice trapping during that run in the 4th...definitely sped the Sixers up and helped fuel that run that got them back to 11.

If Barnes can't go on Wednesday - or even if he can go - I would try some zone if I were them.

They struggled against zone because they didn't have a lead guard that knew how to beat it. That changed once they got Harden. Don't think that would work too well anymore.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Lmao this couldn't be further from the truth. Do u even know how the zone defense work?. Harden is 1 of the worse shooter in the league called a superstar. Zone defense will kill this team so don't let the heat get to the 2nd round cause u will find out the hard way

[SelfishPlayer]

Raptors levelled the game in terms of possessions this time. They were themselves in terms of turnovers and offensive boards.
Now they have to figure out how to do leverage that a little further - possessions advantage was supposed to be one of their key advantages - and not let Philly shoot 52% from the field and 47% from 3pt.

I didn't mind the idea of letting Philly force feed Embiid. He was lucky to have finished this game given the amount of contact.

Considering that Barnes and Trent are both on the fritz, I'd say funnelling everything to Embiid and throwing everything at him, and letting the wear and tear take its toll, is our best shot at this point. A long one for sure.

At this point, I wouldn't underestimate Nurse's ingenuity and Doc's proclivity to completely lose his grip on a playoff series.

That's not basketball, that's football.

It's biology. Athletes tire and fatigue at a slower rate than normal mortals, but they still tire. Getting Embiid a free clump of early offensive efficiency at the cost of physical exertion and exhaustion seems to have rendered a slightly better result yesterday than game 1's alternative of letting everyone except Embiid and Harden score at will.

FVV is the sole reason it appears that you guys "performed better."

[Elnegron]

Awful watching these 2 clown flop fest. A dude that is 7 feet 280 pounds flopping like a kindergarten kid. The league has water down the nba so much that it wouldn't surprise me seen a Trans or a women star in the league someday

Warned - Transphobia, sexism

-Dirk

[Snotbubbles]

The Raptors are toast. When Joel Embiid subs out to start the second and the score is 33-32 Raps, and he re-enters the game 5 minutes later and it's 55-44 Sixers, you aren't winning the game. Those are minutes that opposing teams have to own. I don't want to hear anyone complain about referee bias, this stretch right here ending any chance the Raptors had of winning that game last night.

[sixers4real]

So maybe, maybe, Nick Nurse isn’t that good without Kawhi?

[sixers4real]

Awful watching these 2 clown flop fest. A dude that is 7 feet 280 pounds flopping like a kindergarten kid. The league has water down the nba so much that it wouldn't surprise me seen a Trans or a women star in the league someday

Warned - Transphobia, sexism

-Dirk

I and1 this. That’s some sense of humor

[fbalmeida]

That's not basketball, that's football.

It's biology. Athletes tire and fatigue at a slower rate than normal mortals, but they still tire. Getting Embiid a free clump of early offensive efficiency at the cost of physical exertion and exhaustion seems to have rendered a slightly better result yesterday than game 1's alternative of letting everyone except Embiid and Harden score at will.

FVV is the sole reason it appears that you guys "performed better."

Raptors nearly doubled their offensive rebounds, forced 14 turnovers instead of 3. All of that is nearly entirely down to team effort and not one particular player.

[Snotbubbles]

It's biology. Athletes tire and fatigue at a slower rate than normal mortals, but they still tire. Getting Embiid a free clump of early offensive efficiency at the cost of physical exertion and exhaustion seems to have rendered a slightly better result yesterday than game 1's alternative of letting everyone except Embiid and Harden score at will.

FVV is the sole reason it appears that you guys "performed better."

Raptors nearly doubled their offensive rebounds, forced 14 turnovers instead of 3. All of that is nearly down to team effort and not one particular player.

And still lost by double digits. This iteration of the Raptors isn't good enough to win.

[JShuttlesworth]

It'll be like clockwork again in Game 3.

Niang checks in he'll get two quick fouls called on him.

The refs have been executing their strategy to perfection. Sixers will sweep

[fbalmeida]

FVV is the sole reason it appears that you guys "performed better."

Raptors nearly doubled their offensive rebounds, forced 14 turnovers instead of 3. All of that is nearly down to team effort and not one particular player.

And still lost by double digits. This iteration of the Raptors isn't good enough to win.

We'll find out soon enough. Personally I doubt that Philly can sustain shooting at 51.6% from the field and 48.4% from three for the remainder of this series. I'm expecting our defense to tighten.

[SelfishPlayer]

The Raptors are toast. When Joel Embiid subs out to start the second and the score is 33-32 Raps, and he re-enters the game 5 minutes later and it's 55-44 Sixers, you aren't winning the game. Those are minutes that opposing teams have to own. I don't want to hear anyone complain about referee bias, this stretch right here ending any chance the Raptors had of winning that game last night.

Yes that was interesting. Usually the Sixers replace Embiid with another true center or even Millsap. Paul Reed is a surprise that the Raptors can't solve. The Sixers are now more athletic when Embiid sits. They can't attack Reed with size, the Raptors don't have any. Excellent Doc Rivers coaching move!