Three takeaways from Toronto Raptors tough loss to 76ers

In a closeout game on the road, the Toronto Raptors got absolutely walloped as the Philadelphia 76ers survived and forced a Game 7.

Well… get ready for Game 7. The Toronto Raptors were outrebounded, outshot, outplayed, and outeverythingelsed by the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6, and now, the season will come down to just one game.

The Raptors fell behind early and just couldn’t seem to claw their way back into the game. Philadelphia lead by at least seven from the second quarter on, and just as Toronto seemed to make a push, Philly would answer with a run of their own.

The final margin finished at 11, but it wasn’t even that close. The 76ers controlled every aspect of this game on both sides of the ball, winning in truly dominant fashion.

So what did we learn before a series-deciding Game 7? Here are my three biggest takeaways.

Lack of effort/rebounding

Typically when teams are described as “wanting it more”, it’s an excuse for lazy analysis. This is not one of those times. The Philadelphia 76ers clearly played harder than the Toronto Raptors in this game.

After getting killed early in the series, the Raptors cleaned up their effort on the glass. In Game 5, they only gave up three offensive boards in non-garbage time.

The 76ers crushed them on the boards in this one. By halftime, they had eight offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points. They finished the game with 16 OREB and 18 second-chance points.

You can’t fake desperate but it was extremely disappointing to see the Raptors give such a lackluster effort. Philly got to every loose ball, won every effort play, and played harder on defense.

Philly’s lack of backup center

The Philadelphia 76ers spent a boatload of assets acquiring both Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris but they couldn’t spend a second round pick on a backup center?

In the first half, Brett Brown decided to go to Boban Marjanovic rather than Greg Monroe. To put it lightly, that did not work. Boban was -15 in less than five minutes of action. Toronto mercilessly attacked him with the pick-and-pop, roasting him play after play.

During the second half, the 76ers elected to play Mike Scott at center. He was -5 in about seven seconds of action. Embiid entered back in quickly and played nearly the entire meaningful portion of the second half.

In Game 7, the Raptors need to win the minutes Embiid sits and win them by a significant margin.

Three-point shooting

It’s a make-or-miss league. We can break down every X’s and O’s aspect of this game, but one of the biggest reasons for this loss is the Raptors inability to make a shot. Toronto finished 25-percent from three, going 9-36 from beyond the arc.

Perhaps more importantly, they went just 3-19 to start. Philly built up their lead during that period and simply maintained it afterward.

Furthermore, when you start that frigid, teams start to sag off and pack the paint. Joel Embiid didn’t even pretend to guard Siakam above the break. When you miss shots it infects the rest of your offense and even your transition defense.

Toronto shot 25-percent or worse just eight times this season so you shouldn’t expect to see it for a second straight game. However, when it’s a one-game sample size, anything can happen.

The Raptors are now preparing to play the most meaningful game in franchise history. Game 7 in Toronto with the Eastern Conference Finals on the line. It doesn’t get more exciting (terrifying) than that.