Raptors 113 – 76ers 105: Everybody in the pool
By Brian Boake
The Raptors needed a win against the forever-rebuilding 76ers to keep pace with their competitors in the Eastern Conference. They got assists from DeRozan and baskets from Ibaka, and everyone went home happy.
The Toronto Raptors, a team with serious post-season aspirations, tipped off against the Philadelphia 76ers, who are running a try-out camp. The home team took a lead in the second quarter and, although the 76ers kept chipping away, never relinquished it. Even the early introduction of the Raptors’ kids wasn’t enough to allow the visitors an upset win.
Raptors use their depth
Serge Ibaka got off to a dreadful start, missing his first five shots. However, he was a huge pain for the 76ers on D, blocking 4 attempts (he ended with 6). Ibaka continued to attack in the mid-range, and was virtually flawless after his unpromising beginning. He finished with a game-high 24 points, despite not playing in the final quarter.
That final statement was true of every starter save Cory Joseph. Coach Dwane Casey displayed admirable faith in his rotation men by allowing Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright and others to make some mistakes. Even Fred’s egregious turnover and hopeless foul to open the quarter didn’t deter our coach. VanVleet enjoyed sweet revenge, when he hit a layup on the next possession, then on the in-bounds stripped Nik Staukas and buried a corner 3-ball. All was forgiven.
Play all 48 minutes, guys
The 76ers have long since been eliminated from playoff contention, are racked with injuries, and reduced to playing for next year’s jobs. Nonetheless, they work hard and don’t quit; they could give the Pacers and Pistons some lessons on hustle and two-way play. The Raptors could never relax. A 17-point lead with less than 4 to play was whittled down to 6 with 32 seconds remaining. Fortunately there was no disaster on this night.
The Raptors won only one quarter, that being the second, when they shot 13 for 21. There were assists on ten of those buckets, as DeMar DeRozan, finding little room to move, contented himself with ball movement. He had 4 dimes.
DeRozan made up for that in Q3. With the Raptors offense coughing and sputtering, he took it upon himself to rectify the situation and scored 11 of his 17 points. Jonas Valanciunas was perfect from the floor, hitting 4 of 4.
JV’s substitute continues to be Jakob Poeltl, as Lucas Nogueira can’t get off the bench. Our Austrian rookie is getting smarter all the time. He’s flashing to the bucket at opportune moments, and did so again this night. Poeltl scored 12 points in 19+ minutes, including a spectacular steal and finger-roll basket late in Q4.
The Raptors ended their home stand with a 3-1 record, and now hit the road for four of the season’s final five games. They are in Indiana on Tuesday night.
Putbacks: P.J. Tucker was in street clothes due to a knee problem…both teams had 25 assists and 37 rebounds – weird…10 different Raptors had at least one basket…if the Raptors could get Stauskas cheaply, I’d be interested