The Toronto Raptors saw a good chunk of their postseason optimism dashed after just one game thanks to the Philadelphia 76ers putting up 131 points against Nick Nurse’s vaunted defense. Not only did key players like Gary Trent Jr. underperform, but the Raptors came away with a few battle scars.
Toronto saw standout rookie Scottie Barnes leave the game in the fourth quarter with a very concerning injury, which made an already difficult evening even tougher to swallow. Still, it didn’t totally overshadow the fact that Toronto got their butts thoroughly kicked in this series.
The Raptors still have plenty of chances to overcome this early deficit and win the series with or without Barnes, but it is going to take a serious reversal in fortune for that to happen. Philadelphia seems to have put all of their regular season demons to rest.
The Raptors need to take away these three lessons from their Game 1 decimation at the hands of the 76ers. If Nick Nurse can adapt, Toronto could stand a chance. If they don’t, they might be able to get a head start on their offseason vacation plans.
3 takeaways from Game 1 of Toronto Raptors-Philadelphia 76ers series
3. Precious Achiuwa is about to be tested due to injuries.
Achiuwa started very poorly in his playoff debut, but ended up with a robust nine points, four rebounds, and three assists in 29 minutes of work. Achiuwa was solid in this contest, but Toronto needs him to quickly take that next step if they have to go into Games 2 and beyond without some of their best players.
In addition to Barnes potentially being out for some pivotal games in this series, Thad Young could be in danger of missing time due to a thumb sprain on his shooting hand. Achiuwa already had a ton on his plate from a defensive point of view, and it looks like Nurse is going to ask even more of him on offense if these two are limited.
Precious Achiuwa needs to step up for the Toronto Raptors.
While Achiuwa has become a surprisingly effective 3-point shooter in the second half, the hesitancy and second-guessing that plagues so many second-year players making their playoff debut was all over his performance. Achiuwa will need to mature on the job in this series.
While this might sound like too tall of an order to thrust on Achiuwa in his second season, Masai Ujiri acquired him with the expectation that his athleticism could be a unique piece that causes elite teams consternation in the playoffs. We’ll see just how much Precious has developed in this series.
2. Tyrese Maxey is a bigger threat than James Harden.
While much of the talk about Toronto’s defensive focus in this series centered around keeping Harden in check and limiting Embiid’s touches, it was Maxey who gave the Raptors the biggest headache. Maxey put up 38 points on 14-21 shooting, with 21 of those points coming in the third quarter.
While Harden’s lack of the same explosion he had in Houston has helped Toronto prevent him from breaking out as a scorer, Maxey has the perfect style of play to frustrate this defense. With the blinding speed needed to blow by bigger defenders and the interior finishing to succeed at the rim, Maxey showed how lethal he can be.
Tyrese Maxey will be a problem for the Toronto Raptors.
While Trent underperforming and All-Defensive performer Fred VanVleet getting in foul trouble early didn’t help, the Raptors had no answer for Maxey as a penetrator and shooter. While taking attention away from Harden sounds like a bad idea, he seems to be settling into becoming more of a playmaker than a ball-dominant scorer role of late.
If that trend continues, Maxey needs to be viewed as an elite scorer that can score 40 points when he is requested to. Winning this chess match is going to take some bold moves from Nurse, but he’s already proven to have issues with keeping the electric young guard in check.
1. The Raptors’ defense may not be as good as we thought.
Much was made about Toronto’s lockdown defense and their ability to generate chaos by switching so frequently thanks to all of their versatile forwards. However, the Raptors failed to get any sort of stops. Philadelphia had their choice of avenues with which to abuse Toronto defensively.
Toronto recorded just three turnovers despite coming into the series ranked second in the league in forced turnovers per game. Not only was that number abnormally low, but it ties the record for the fewest turnovers in a playoff game. While Embiid was limited to just 19 points, Maxey and Tobias Harris looked like they were playing in an open gym.
Is the Toronto Raptors’ defense still elite?
This unit might be a top-ten unit in terms of defensive rating in the regular season, but when they aren’t able to generate turnovers, the lack of height and muscle can become a real problem for this team. Are they good enough in the half-court to slow down all of these scorers?
The Raptors were reactive instead of proactive the entire game. They were adjusting to whatever Philly threw at them. Being assertive and forcing Philadelphia to play at Toronto’s speed will be key in the remaining games. With the whistle Embiid was getting, it could be a short series if the defense produce another dud in Game 2.