Joel Embiid struggled to beat Toronto Raptors’ doubles team, left the game early with an injury, and they coughed up a late lead to go down 125-121. A familiar script in an unfamiliar setting, but more or less good for Philly in a game that means nothing to the class.
Here’s what I saw on Wednesday night.
The Good
• No one had a better night for Philadelphia than Al Horford, who lends credibility to the idea behind the ultra-great frontcourt one game at a time in Orlando.
Defensively, Horford was accused of waiting for Pascal Siakam on Wednesday night, and he flummoxed the Toronto swingman for many of the same reasons Joel Embiid did in the playoffs last year. Siakam could not go much in the arc against Horford’s greatness and strength, and that made him rely mainly on his three-point shot, which is decent, but certainly not the heart of his game.
Lowering Siakam and not having to use Embiid to do this is a very big deal in this matchup, especially with Ben Simmons likely for the year.
On the other hand, perhaps all Horford needed to go through was to move to a fanless environment (or get healthier legs under him). His shooting touch is back in Orlando, and with more space on the floor for anyone without Simmons in the lineup, his passing skill is better used. Embiid may have struggled against post-doubles, but his front-court partner did not.
I do not know if his return is enough to make up for * gestures at the rest of the Sixers’ problems *, but it’s a start.
• Tobias Harris continued what has been a strong Orlando campaign against the Raptors, looking like a much different man than he did last year against Toronto in the playoffs. The Sixers needed far more from Harris than a barrage of missed corner-trees, and most importantly, they needed him to use his size and skill to generate trips to the free-go line.
He did an excellent job on Wednesday night. It may not be replicable against the Raptors with a lot of strength – Serge Ibaka and OG Anunoby don’t fit, which changes things a bit – but Harris got a lot of advantageous matchups in midfield and made it a point to sign contact and slow it down play down. He has the skill to inflict such off-balance fadeaways against guys from that place, but it would benefit him that he does not have to do all the time.
• Maybe I should change my mind about Furkan Korkmaz who is in rotation, because I assumed that teams will start defending at some point. Maybe that moment is yet to come, but with scores as high as they are and Korkmaz’s shooting on a premise, he’s pretty much locked up in the rotation. If he makes five tries or more per game, like he did on Wednesday night, he could sit cross-legged on defense at noon and I think he would still get some burns.
Of course, we’ll see this again when they play the Celtics in round one and Jayson Tatum forces three straight switches to attack Korkmaz and force a Sixers timeout after an 8-0 run.
• Brett Brown somehow did not start over Mike Scott in the playoffs, but he did pick up his toughness and lack of fear at the very moment, and that’s the big reason I think he did in the end. will be a factor. Historically, Embiid has enjoyed playing with a stretch four ready to let shoes fly when the big fella comes out of the post, and Scott is in a nice groove on his way to the playoffs.
He’s still not a reliable defender and they have better options to play in that respect, but he makes his case.
• The offense has just looked a bit nicer for the Sixers over their last few games, a real surprise considering you have been terrible to watch most of the season, even when they won. They may not have the weapons to make it to the playoffs, but ball movement has improved, off-ball actions have improved, and they seem to have really spent time together hoping for a great development for a group of men who had to split four months in the middle of the season.
I will not go away with this topic yet, but if things looked this fresh offensive with Embiid on the floor and Simmons on the floor, then it feels like there would be more discussion about it. Without getting too picky, basketball is a lot easier on offense if you have five guys who have to defend to the three-point line.
• The bench antics were sensational in the stretch. That looks like camaraderie.
The bad
• In many other cases, you just tip your pet to the Toronto Raptors (and Marc Gasol) for how they defend against Joel Embiid. They are just amazing at what they do, and armed with the athletes they have the rotation up and down, they can cover ground and return to shooters after doubling.
This was not a game where I give a lot of credit to the strategy and / or staff of Toronto. Joel Embiid was just plain bad against his double teams, who were nothing more than fast doubles as soon as he touched the ball. They did not make up timing, they did not beat him from the blind, he just failed his task once the double came.
It was disappointing because Embiid has done some of the best work of his career against a wide variety of coverage in Orlando. Did he press because of his past fight against the Raptors? Was it just a product of some changes to the rotation, and thus with its floor spacing? This was a chance for the big man to see that he turned a corner against a defense he had to hit to go deep into the playoffs, and he was bad.
• Look, I know I have to act like the result and the way it’s done is something worth getting over, but Stanley Johnson who takes over the piece of this game with Marial Skayok on the floor says it all. The Philadelphia starters crowned themselves well with the Toronto starters on the floor. That’s what’s important.
The Ugly
• Do I have to say it myself? I fully understand the crowd thinking to themselves, “There’s always something!” with Joel Embiid. He walked away from Wednesday’s game in the first half after being hit hard on the right hand and never returned, although the Sixers say the x – rays he had on his hand were negative in the half. returned.
There are two sides of me. Did Embiid have to play in Wednesday’s game in the first place? No, not really, except that you stay in shape and stay sharp. Should everyone worry that he’s on the floor for a game like he’s a porcelain vase? Not at all. That’s his whole job!
I get a little dramatic because I imagine he would have played if this game was important in any case. Now we get to see them play him in Friday’s pre – playoff final against Houston, and we’ll do this whole song and dance them all over again. Can they try to get him reps without risking one of his limbs falling off? Stay tuned.
• The Sixers are locked in the No. 6 seed and will play the Boston Celtics in the first round. Seeding does not matter very much at this stage, but if you were to say prior to the season, this is where they will end up, there would have been a lot of disappointed people in Philadelphia.
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