The Toronto Raptors are down 2-1 after a critical loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. What did we learn from Game 3’s disappointing performance?
Losing any playoff game is tough. Being thoroughly dominated like the Toronto Raptors were in Game 3, is heartbreaking. The Philadelphia 76ers controlled this contest from the opening tip to the closing buzzer, and for the moment, all looks lost.
But believe it or not, this series is not over yet. Adjustments need to be made, key players (and bench players) need to set up, but this series is still extremely winnable. If the Raptors can pull out Game 4 on the road, they head home for Game 5 with homecourt advantage. They just need to perform better than they did last night.
But what did we learn from the Philadelphia 76ers shakedown of the Toronto Raptors? Three things stuck out above the rest.
Lack of bucket getters
Masai Ujiri did a great job of building the Raptors with two-way, efficient players. Danny Green is a perfect glue guy, Pascal Siakam fits perfectly into what this team does, Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol are two of the smartest, craftiest stars in the league.
What the Raptors lack is a few guys who can just go get buckets, particularly against a switch. For years, teams focussed on high-usage isolation scorers without building out the rest of the team. For once, it seems Toronto has gone the other way.
Toronto doesn’t have the capability to punish Philadelphia when they switch. Lowry can’t break anyone down off the dribble anymore, Gasol can’t punish even Tobias Harris down in the paint, and Danny Green can’t create any offense for himself. Kawhi Leonard and sometimes Pascal Siakam are the only isolation scorers on the team.
Compare that to Philly who has so many individual scoring options. Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, and Joel Embiid can all score out of the isolation. They don’t need to run a play. Give them a slight mismatch and it’s over. They’re a team filled with scoring talent, even if it doesn’t fit the best at times.
It sounds reductive, but in the playoffs, sometimes it’s about getting your own basket. That’s why guys like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant seems to play so much better in the spring. Philly has plenty of guys they can turn to when they need a score. Toronto has one.
Joel Embiid
In the first two games of the series, Gasol locked Embiid up. He ate his lunch, put him in jail, whatever else you want to call it. In Game 3, Embiid broke out.
The superstar center scored 33 points on 72.7-percent trueshooting, scoring at the rim, from three-point range, and at the free throw line. He was an analytics wet-dream. At the end of the game, he highlighted his performance with a nasty windmill jam.
Perhaps just as impressive was his effort on the defensive side of the court. Embiid erased five shots at the rim and was a deterrent on several more. Brett Brown did an excellent job of switching Embiid’s defensive assignment back and forth between Siakam and Gasol, never letting the Raptors get comfortable offensively.
As great as Embiid was, he won’t play that well moving forward. He’s unlikely to shoot 3-4 from three and Gasol was too good defensively in the first two games to not expect a bounce-back performance.
Still, even 80-percent of Embiid’s Game 3 performance is better than what he did in the first two games. If he can give the 76ers something approaching what he did last night, the Raptors might be in trouble.
Bench struggles continue
The bench has struggled all year and heading into the postseason, you didn’t expect it to be a strength. But this type of performance is just pathetic.
Serge Ibaka is being outplayed by Greg Monroe. Yes, the same Monroe you watched miss bunnies and get abused defensively earlier in the season.
Fred VanVleet has forgotten how to play basketball altogether. When he’s not bricking open jumpers, he’s finding a way to dribble the air out of the ball.
Norman Powell has been the best bench reserve, not because he’s been good, but because at least he isn’t a sizeable negative.
As bad as the Raptors bench has been this season, they were supposed to be an advantage against a 76ers team who was even thinner. The Raptors bench isn’t just losing the battle, it’s getting massacred.
As bad as it is, I’m not sure the Raptors have any better options. Ibaka, VanVleet, and Powell have been their best bench players all season. Expecting Jeremy Lin or Patrick McCaw to save the day seems even more frightening.
The Raptors have a lot to fix, both from a coaching and a players perspective if they want to have any shot at Game 4. However, if they can make the changes, they’re right back in this series. This isn’t over yet.