Which team holds the bench edge?
Jeff Borsuk:
The Raptors bench has struggled but there have been flashes of brilliance, especially from Norman Powell and Serge Ibaka. The depth of their talent allows them to be better than the Sixers. They will need to contain the giant, 7’3″ Boban Marjanovic in the paint and hopefully see a return to quality play from Fred VanVleet.
Mike Bossetti:
Raptor fans probably won’t trust it, but Toronto has a considerable (but not gigantic) bench advantage. The top three reserves in the series all play for Toronto. The Raptors also match up significantly better.
Serge Ibaka vs Boba Marjonovic is the matchup to watch. Can Boban stay on the floor with Ibaka? If not, the 76ers might need to look a little deeper on the bench to Jonah Bolden. Bolden being on the court is a big win for the Raptors.
Go Paolo:
Toronto is lucky the Sixers don’t have the same bench depth they had last season. Like the Raptors, the Sixers’ level of play drastically drops off when they go to the bench.
Mike Scott is hobbled by an injury. They don’t have anyone to play behind Simmons outside TJ McConnell, who has fallen out of the rotation. I’m not sure how Boban will factor in, but he could be the X-factor for the Sixers, especially if Embiid is off.
Vimal Sivakumar:
Normally, I wouldn’t have confidence here. However, outside of the 76ers top 5 players (Redick, Embiid, Harris, Simmons, Butler), only one player is averaging double-digit points this postseason, even though three of their bench players see over 15 minutes per game.
Toronto’s bench has admittedly been inconsistent at times this season but there is still a not-insignificant talent gap here that convinces me to favour Toronto in these bench minutes.