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

[nikster]

Spoiler:

Ah yes the classic "they won because we lost" explanation.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM Forums mobile app

How? I didnt just mentioned FTs. There were several factors why we lose that i mentioned such Embiid failing to score efficiently with volume against the mismatch (thad), getting out rebounded and TO.

Regarding FTs. I’d like to mention that Siakam average 5FTAs in the regular season and 4 FTAs in the playoffs. Sixers has done a great job of defending Siakam on single coverage and this is shown by his 4FTAs, -4ppg (22ppg vs 18ppg) average reg season vs playoffs and 40FG%.

Siakam tonight got 15FTAs, 3x more than his regular season average and almost 4x his average in the last 3 games.

Raps average 22 FTAs per game in the reg season, they got to the line 35 times. Usually teams go to the line above their mean only when the opposing team can’t stop the scorer due to mismatch.

If it’s because of Niang. Then yes, we lose the FT battle because of US.

If it’s not because of Niang, then we lose the FT battle because of the refs.

Free Throw Attempts Per Game

PHI 23.8 regular season, 27.3 this series (+3.5)
TOR 21.3 regular season, 22.0 this series (+0.7)

He used the "revert to the men" argument for free throws, but dismissed the Raps leading in turnovers and offebsive rebounds on the season

[Sisqo]

Sixers Defense:

Similar to game 3, sixers switched to zone defense with around 7 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

But unlike game 3, Raps came prepared and had Thad play quarter back at the middle of the zone that destroyed our defense by pulling out Embiid and taking advantage of Boucher being defended by our weak defender and other cutters.

Remember when the Raps would attack Siakam, drop it to a cutter at the rim and score? They added another layer with Thad.

Siakam drives. Drops it to Thad. Then Thad passing to the cutting Boucher who’s being defended by our midget.

Siakam was on fire but I do think Harris, Reed and Embiid were all OK to good on their defense. This game I think Raps respected Tobi’s defense and they hunted Niang’s defense and this lead to Siakam’s big game.

Siakam scored easily on Niang. Embiid did had some trouble scorinh against Thad and the Raps defense. Yikes..

Sixers did a really bad job limiting second shot opportunities. The Orebs lead to 2-3 3pters this game if im not mistaken.

Sixers Offense:

Similar to game 3, Embiid struggled when attacking at the post. Embiid has more success attacking from the FT line area. Facing up.

But unlike game 3, Embiid never really switched it up. Yes, he did some face-up but he still had a lot of post/left baseline 1v1 possessions.

Embiid should know by now that the refs are less likely to blow their whistle if he tries to attack from the post. And he saw it on game 3 and he saw it again this game.

Thad was the X factor for the Raps this game. Thad made Embiid look like Mozgov when Warriors played smallball. Whenever Embiid scores or shoots, Raps would push hard
down the court with Embiid trailing on defense.

Sixers tries to punish the Raps playing Thad by C. Embiid bullying Thad in the post does not work. So they tried letting Thad switch to Harden where Harden has been effective and was again effective on ISO against Thad.

Harden for me played a good game. But in games like this where Embiid is as I would describe it “spiritually absent”, Harden should show his value where he can revert to a more Houston version of Harden. Im not saying he should revert back to his MVP form always, but what im hoping is that he should have a switch when we need him to be one.

The other night I saw the Suns without Booker beat the Pels. It was a tight game and CP3 just took over down the stretch. Its the same thing I want from James. I thought he showed some signs of being able to do that when he scored like 8 pts in the 4th quarter at some point trying to single handedly get the game close. But I selfishly want more..

Maxey again showed his a fool’s gold. He’s really average at best in getting separation and is just feeding off the gravity James is getting.

The brightspots in this game are both Reed and Tobias. I thought Reed played a good game. His defense against Siakam was good, Siakam just made those shots. He also knocked down a 3. I hope we can see some Tobias-Reed-Embiid 3-4-5 in the future.

Tobias didnt have a great shooting night. He knocked down 1 3pter via a stepback at the left wing. But he played aggressive and efficient on both ends.

Overall:

We lose this game simply because..

Siakam scoring against good defense vs Embiid struggling against bad defense

Then you add that Raps has both 10 FTA disparity. They shot 35 FTAs, 12 more than their season average.

I dont know if there was a team we faced that had more FTAs than us since we got Harden.

Then you add the fact that they have 5 less TOs and 5 more ORebs.

You lose on the 1v1 scoring contest..
you got less extra points from FTs…
And you got less opportunities with TOs and OREBS.

It was a steep mountain to climb.

Brightside? We just lose by 8pts. This should have been atleast 20 if we faced the Bucks.

So what I read is there is a sense of entitlement because of free throws.

You were forced into turnovers and outplayed on the boards which is only your own fault

You also lost to a team that only shot 24% from 3.

You call them a bad defence but when healthy they are a very good defence.

This sounds like your only trying to convince yourself

[76ciology]

Sixers Defense:

Similar to game 3, sixers switched to zone defense with around 7 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

But unlike game 3, Raps came prepared and had Thad play quarter back at the middle of the zone that destroyed our defense by pulling out Embiid and taking advantage of Boucher being defended by our weak defender and other cutters.

Remember when the Raps would attack Siakam, drop it to a cutter at the rim and score? They added another layer with Thad.

Siakam drives. Drops it to Thad. Then Thad passing to the cutting Boucher who’s being defended by our midget.

Siakam was on fire but I do think Harris, Reed and Embiid were all OK to good on their defense. This game I think Raps respected Tobi’s defense and they hunted Niang’s defense and this lead to Siakam’s big game.

Siakam scored easily on Niang. Embiid did had some trouble scorinh against Thad and the Raps defense. Yikes..

Sixers did a really bad job limiting second shot opportunities. The Orebs lead to 2-3 3pters this game if im not mistaken.

Sixers Offense:

Similar to game 3, Embiid struggled when attacking at the post. Embiid has more success attacking from the FT line area. Facing up.

But unlike game 3, Embiid never really switched it up. Yes, he did some face-up but he still had a lot of post/left baseline 1v1 possessions.

Embiid should know by now that the refs are less likely to blow their whistle if he tries to attack from the post. And he saw it on game 3 and he saw it again this game.

Thad was the X factor for the Raps this game. Thad made Embiid look like Mozgov when Warriors played smallball. Whenever Embiid scores or shoots, Raps would push hard
down the court with Embiid trailing on defense.

Sixers tries to punish the Raps playing Thad by C. Embiid bullying Thad in the post does not work. So they tried letting Thad switch to Harden where Harden has been effective and was again effective on ISO against Thad.

Harden for me played a good game. But in games like this where Embiid is as I would describe it “spiritually absent”, Harden should show his value where he can revert to a more Houston version of Harden. Im not saying he should revert back to his MVP form always, but what im hoping is that he should have a switch when we need him to be one.

The other night I saw the Suns without Booker beat the Pels. It was a tight game and CP3 just took over down the stretch. Its the same thing I want from James. I thought he showed some signs of being able to do that when he scored like 8 pts in the 4th quarter at some point trying to single handedly get the game close. But I selfishly want more..

Maxey again showed his a fool’s gold. He’s really average at best in getting separation and is just feeding off the gravity James is getting.

The brightspots in this game are both Reed and Tobias. I thought Reed played a good game. His defense against Siakam was good, Siakam just made those shots. He also knocked down a 3. I hope we can see some Tobias-Reed-Embiid 3-4-5 in the future.

Tobias didnt have a great shooting night. He knocked down 1 3pter via a stepback at the left wing. But he played aggressive and efficient on both ends.

Overall:

We lose this game simply because..

Siakam scoring against good defense vs Embiid struggling against bad defense

Then you add that Raps has both 10 FTA disparity. They shot 35 FTAs, 12 more than their season average.

I dont know if there was a team we faced that had more FTAs than us since we got Harden.

Then you add the fact that they have 5 less TOs and 5 more ORebs.

You lose on the 1v1 scoring contest..
you got less extra points from FTs…
And you got less opportunities with TOs and OREBS.

It was a steep mountain to climb.

Brightside? We just lose by 8pts. This should have been atleast 20 if we faced the Bucks.

So what I read is there is a sense of entitlement because of free throws.

You were forced into turnovers and outplayed on the boards which is only your own fault

You also lost to a team that only shot 24% from 3.

You call them a bad defence but when healthy they are a very good defence.

This sounds like your only trying to convince yourself

If Raps is healthy, do Achiuwa grow into 7 footer? There’s nobody in the Raps roster who can defend Embiid.

Harden has been blowing past every Raps defender from Achiuwa, OG, Trent Jr., Flynn, FVV and Barnes. Currently Harden is the best ISO player in the playoffs (1st in ppg off ISO) with 9.8 possessions per game (1st in possessions) and 1.04points per possession.

The reason why Raps is struggling on defense against Sixers is nobody is on their roster can slow down Embiid and Harden on single coverage.

Regarding this game, I didnt just point out the FT difference but I also pointed out that Sixers fell short in the number of possessions by being outrebounded and having more turnovers.

Im not convincing myself of anything..

[76ciology]

Getting to the line..

Considering the players do attack to the basket at the same rate..

The player who has a mismatch (defender can’t defend on single coverage) will get to the line more than the player who does not have a mismatch.

In this series, Tobias has locked down Siakam. Prior to G4, Siakam averaged 18ppg on 40FG%.

Why would Sixers send Siakam to the line when our guys can slow down Siakam on single coverage?

That isn’t the case with Harden and Embiid where Raps has made Harden the best ISO player in the playoffs right now (most in points off ISO and with 1.04ppp) and Embiid who averaged 26ppg on almost 50FG%.

[wegotthabeet]

It would be great to see this series go at least 6 games. How nervous would the 6ers be if it went to 7?

Would be fun, albeit highly unlikely.

[Son Goku 25]

When did the hatred between Raps/6ers fans start? This thread is like one pro wrestling promo after another and I’m into it. Genuinely curious if it’s safe for Raps fans to go to a game in Philly. My brother is a Vikings fan and he went to a game in Philly once. He’s a chill, quiet guy and people were still throwing stuff at his head and threatening to kill him the entire time.

I think the Raptors have been in their heads for 3 years now, seems like the sixers team and fans haven't recovered from that buzzer game 7 win. Now they are trying to retaliate in the 1st round against a rebuilding raptor team who have injuries and are happy to just be there. I'm trying to imagine if the series was tied because it could have easily been what the reactions would be. Then again, Sixers going up 3-0 and then losing would be even more hilarious of a reaction to watch vs the Raptors.

[cupcakesnake]

Long term, I think Raps should replace both GTJ and FVV if they really want to be switchable on defense.

So you want them to eliminate guards entirely (as well as their 2 best shooters)? As far as switchable guards go, those 2 rate very highly. Trent is 6'6" (shoes) with a 6'9" wingspan. Fred is very stout against most matchups. Obviously forwards are inherently more switchable due to size, but a team needs to be able to do more than just switch on defense.

Even with Barnes out, this is arguably the most switchable team of all-time. They don't need to become more switchable, they need to shore up their primary weaknesses: rim pressure, backline defense, size at center, and shooting. I think the Raps knew all season they were short 1 rotation guard and 1 center. They chased centers hard at the trade deadline (Poetl, Nerlens Noel, Porzingis) before they settled for Thadd.

The Raps hoped they could fluster Embiid enough with their switching defense, but evidently clearly underestimated him. Even if they were even more switchable, it wouldn't have helped with this matchup. It's too important with Embiid to have at least 1 primary defender who can bother him. I bet the Raps continue their chase for a workable center this offseason. It's been their biggest problem since Gasol left.

Look how much better Raps played without FVV.

If Raps can replace FVV and GTJ with guys with size and can switch, they can win the Siakam vs your top scorer battle with their defense helping Raps wins the points per possession exchange. Its not that they’re missing a lot with FVV and GTJ, specially if you can replace them with guys who can space the floor for Siakam or a more developed Barnes to attack.

Siakam (and eventually Barnes) aren’t so skilled but you can always hunt the weak/small defender where they can score high points per possession against on ISO.

Not totally the same, but its similar to what Celts has built with a heavy wing roster that has the secret sauce on how to play elite defense with how the game is being called.

Thats just my opinion and you know better for you have watched more raps game than me so i can be wrong.

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for the premise of replacing small guards with wings. I also fully agree that the Raptors can fully cede primary ball handling responsibilities to Siakam/Barnes. But with the Raps already fairly thin on shooting, replacing their 2 most potent shooters (fvv+gtj) sounds like a tall order. 6'7+ dudes who with strong outside shooting and better defense than Trent and Fred sounds like an unrealistic dream. GTJ is a good fit there. He's switchable across 3 positions and very disruptive. Fred has been hurt for months (and it seems to be getting worse) but during his healthy first half, he was absolutely blowing up pick & rolls and rarely looking over matched. I agree that Fred is hurting them right now, and if they had someone on the roster to take his minutes, I'd advocate for it (if Barnes is healthy we might see it more, and this team needs more Thadd).

If Siakam is your main scorer.. it's not great but it can be workable if you have better conditions around him. I agree that they don't need guards (or small ball handlers), but they really need more shooting. I like Siakam/Barnes/OG playing mismatch bully ball, but that only works if they have space to do that. Otherwise you have a Lakers situation where you most talented lineups have no space to run their preferred actions (lebron postup, AD/Bron pick & roll). What the Raptors lack most is a primary rim protector (they have like 3-4 secondary/tertiary rim protectors but no one to truly hold it down and turn this top 10 defense into a top 5 defense), and a good source of rim pressure (Siakam can only play bully ball against a good matchup, so take that away and the Raps offense becomes somewhat punchless even though they are scrappy and intelligent).

But hey if the Raps can find or develop 2 more shooting wings, then good for them. I will be curious to see if Dalano Banton and Justin Champagnie can become good shooters.

[California Gold]

James Harden really is a shell of himself right now. I’m sure people will make excuses for him about how he is dealing with some injury or didn’t have enough time to gel in Philly, etc.

This is how the guy has been in larger moments. He has lesser shining moments than bad ones overall in the playoffs. Take it from a Rockets fan that watched him for years. I’ve been pretty consistent in being critical of James for much of his Rockets career, he’s just making this too easy now though. He’s also just plain basketball fat. Really worried how he’ll be post basketball, expecting him to end up like Rick Ross.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I expected Foster to condition this game but he didn’t. It was just that Pascal finally was aggressive and Niang/Tobias can’t guard him, Embiid was not aggressive and TO guarded him well, they didn’t even have to swarm. Refs didn’t give him cheap ones they were giving him earlier in the series but they did give cheap ones to Harden and Philly got a good whistle overall. 50-50 block/charges went their way, travels, even lane violations- OG got called for one on his own guy and then Niang waved in Pascal’s face on a FT attempt but nothing. Philly just sucked today and Embiid has been spoiled by horrible 1-way reffing to this point and he’s feeling that privilege. Their complaints are ridiculous.

I agree with most of what you say here, but I'm not sure it's right to say that Toronto "didn't even have to swarm" against Embiid. I actually thought they changed the timing on their double-teams this game, and it helped throw him off. In previous games, they've waited until he made his first move to double, hoping that by that time he's committed and would have a harder time getting to his counter moves. In game 4 they seemed to be doubling much earlier, essentially swarming with two of the bigger guys (like Precious and Pascal), and forcing the ball out of Embiid's hands almost as soon as he touched it.

It'll be interesting to see if the Raps stick with that strategy in game 5, or mix it up again to keep Embiid guessing.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

Getting to the line..

Considering the players do attack to the basket at the same rate..

The player who has a mismatch (defender can’t defend on single coverage) will get to the line more than the player who does not have a mismatch.

In this series, Tobias has locked down Siakam. Prior to G4, Siakam averaged 18ppg on 40FG%.

Why would Sixers send Siakam to the line when our guys can slow down Siakam on single coverage?

That isn’t the case with Harden and Embiid where Raps has made Harden the best ISO player in the playoffs right now (most in points off ISO and with 1.04ppp) and Embiid who averaged 26ppg on almost 50FG%.

Cool. But the truth is that the Sixers don’t have anyone who can guard Siakam, as everyone said before the series, as has been proved in the past. Siakam was very passive in the first 3 games making Tobias look great, and Niang look good, and they had lots of help from the refs who were calling every game 1-way. But Pascal finally showed up and made Tobias look like the mediocre defender he is, and Niang look like the trash defender he is, they called some fouls, and your coach didn’t adjust. Embiid, on the other hand, was passive and got all the fouls he deserved.

[timO]

raps save the falling in 4

[FluLikeSymptoms]

Sixers are due to miss some 3s. A lot of 3s. 45.2% on the series, at least 41.9% each game. Gimme a break.

[bebopdeluxe]

When did the hatred between Raps/6ers fans start? This thread is like one pro wrestling promo after another and I’m into it. Genuinely curious if it’s safe for Raps fans to go to a game in Philly. My brother is a Vikings fan and he went to a game in Philly once. He’s a chill, quiet guy and people were still throwing stuff at his head and threatening to kill him the entire time.

To be honest, fanbase to fanbase, I don't think there is much heat. There is simply a subset of Raptors fans on the GB who are insufferable - and have been that way for YEARS,

[FluLikeSymptoms]

When did the hatred between Raps/6ers fans start? This thread is like one pro wrestling promo after another and I’m into it. Genuinely curious if it’s safe for Raps fans to go to a game in Philly. My brother is a Vikings fan and he went to a game in Philly once. He’s a chill, quiet guy and people were still throwing stuff at his head and threatening to kill him the entire time.

To be honest, fanbase to fanbase, I don't think there is much heat. There is simply a subset of Raptors fans on the GB who are insufferable - and have been that way for YEARS,

No, there’s nothing. We had an awesome series in 2001, another in 2019, and now this.

[Lunartic]

I like to check in on this thread just to laugh at the WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS from both fanbases

[76ciology]

Getting to the line..

Considering the players do attack to the basket at the same rate..

The player who has a mismatch (defender can’t defend on single coverage) will get to the line more than the player who does not have a mismatch.

In this series, Tobias has locked down Siakam. Prior to G4, Siakam averaged 18ppg on 40FG%.

Why would Sixers send Siakam to the line when our guys can slow down Siakam on single coverage?

That isn’t the case with Harden and Embiid where Raps has made Harden the best ISO player in the playoffs right now (most in points off ISO and with 1.04ppp) and Embiid who averaged 26ppg on almost 50FG%.

Cool. But the truth is that the Sixers don’t have anyone who can guard Siakam, as everyone said before the series, as has been proved in the past. Siakam was very passive in the first 3 games making Tobias look great, and Niang look good, and they had lots of help from the refs who were calling every game 1-way. But Pascal finally showed up and made Tobias look like the mediocre defender he is, and Niang look like the trash defender he is, they called some fouls, and your coach didn’t adjust. Embiid, on the other hand, was passive and got all the fouls he deserved.

Tobias and Embiid can defend Siakam.

This hightlight shows Tobias defense on Siakam.

Read on Twitter

Tobi locked down siakam for 3 games. Its no fluke. He average 18ppg on 40FG% before game 4.

Sixers is not sending any help defense when Siakam drives against Tobi because the team dont consider it as a mismatch.

Same case with Embiid. Since the 2019 playoffs.

Siakam is limited as a scorer where he is very right dominant. All Sixers (even Harden and Maxey do the same thing) has to do was to deny his right side and let him finish with his left hand.

[Courtside]

When did the hatred between Raps/6ers fans start? This thread is like one pro wrestling promo after another and I’m into it. Genuinely curious if it’s safe for Raps fans to go to a game in Philly. My brother is a Vikings fan and he went to a game in Philly once. He’s a chill, quiet guy and people were still throwing stuff at his head and threatening to kill him the entire time.

To be honest, fanbase to fanbase, I don't think there is much heat. There is simply a subset of Raptors fans on the GB who are insufferable - and have been that way for YEARS,

Yeah, it's the insufferable Raptor fans, and not at all the insufferable Sixer fans who are every bit as responsible for the **** these threads have been.

Both fanbases have dbags and trolls. Blaming any one side is entirely dishonest, especially when you personally have added playing victim as a form of attack, which the post above is proof of. "They've been so bad for so long that I am now entitled to constant shrieking criticism in every thread" to put yourself on some imaginary high horse.

[sp6r=underrated]

How big of a fine is Embiid going to get for his comments?

[76ciology]

Why Raptors keep sending help defense when Harden attacks via 1v1?

James Harden
9.8 ISO possessions per game (1st)
10ppg off ISO (1st)
1.04 points per possession

[FluLikeSymptoms]

Getting to the line..

Considering the players do attack to the basket at the same rate..

The player who has a mismatch (defender can’t defend on single coverage) will get to the line more than the player who does not have a mismatch.

In this series, Tobias has locked down Siakam. Prior to G4, Siakam averaged 18ppg on 40FG%.

Why would Sixers send Siakam to the line when our guys can slow down Siakam on single coverage?

That isn’t the case with Harden and Embiid where Raps has made Harden the best ISO player in the playoffs right now (most in points off ISO and with 1.04ppp) and Embiid who averaged 26ppg on almost 50FG%.

Cool. But the truth is that the Sixers don’t have anyone who can guard Siakam, as everyone said before the series, as has been proved in the past. Siakam was very passive in the first 3 games making Tobias look great, and Niang look good, and they had lots of help from the refs who were calling every game 1-way. But Pascal finally showed up and made Tobias look like the mediocre defender he is, and Niang look like the trash defender he is, they called some fouls, and your coach didn’t adjust. Embiid, on the other hand, was passive and got all the fouls he deserved.

Tobias and Embiid can defend Siakam.

This hightlight shows Tobias defense on Siakam.

Read on Twitter

Tobi locked down siakam for 3 games. Its no fluke. He average 18ppg on 40FG% before game 4.

Sixers is not sending any help defense when Siakam drives against Tobi because the team dont consider it as a mismatch.

Same case with Embiid. Since the 2019 playoffs.

Siakam is limited as a scorer where he is very right dominant. All Sixers (even Harden and Maxey do the same thing) has to do was to deny his right side and let him finish with his left hand.

Yeah Pascal was playing into the 6ers hands. We wanted to strangle him. Do you think the reg season or game 4 was a fluke? Did you notice anything different about Pascal or Tobias or was it all on the refs for you?