Quick Reaction: 76ers 115, Raptors 102

He came out with good energy on the glass and played some solid defence on Joel Embiid early on. His hot start fizzled out, however, as he missed two makeable shots at the rim in the first half. He came out looking good on the glass in the second half and was able to hammer home a dunk in transition midway through the third quarter. That sparked four more points down low shortly after. His defence picked up again in the second half, and CMB actually had some good stops against a former MVP in Joel Embiid, who is much bigger than the undersized Boyles.

Rough early start for Scottie, missing some good looks. He was able to knock down a wide open mid ranger late in the first quarter to register his first points on his fourth shot attempt of the night. He started the second half much better offensivley making a mid-range jumper early and then followed it with a slam in transition that forced a Nick Nurse timeout. Hammered home a nice and one early in the fourth quarter as Mamu hooked him up with a nice lob pass. His defence, along with that of other Raptors, was noticeably better in the second half, and he added 3 more stocks (steals and blocks) to his league-wide lead in that category.

Two floaters to open up his night, followed by a three for a quick seven points, but he cooled off later in the quarter. Not the greatest game from Quickley, obviously, but his floater and cuts inside were working; he just couldn’t knock down a three to save his life the whole game on a night where Toronto desperately needed three-point shooting.

First game back from his thumb injury, and he got going right away with his bread and butter of a mid-range jumper. He made two more mid-range jumpers quickly and even helped the team on the offensive glass, and set up a nice layup for CMB with a beautiful assist in the air. In the second quarter, he came out ice cold, but he was able to get to the free-throw line multiple times and had success there. The second half was relatively quiet scoring-wise for BI3 aswell, but he was good as a rebounder and had some highlight reel dimes, so it wasn’t a horrible return after missing two games.

Good energy early on the glass and finished an and one through contact down low early. Had a really nice block as a help defender on Joel Embiid late in the first quarter. Although his energy on the glass was good as he got a ton of deflections, he wasn’t able to reel in most of the rebounds and found himself at the free-throw line quite a lot, but managed to only go two for five in the first half. Missed a shot down low from a nice Quickley lob, but he ran the floor hard a few possessions later to make up for the miss. A back-to-back for Mamu to forget, as he really struggled in these two games against the 6ers.

A nice assist to a Battle three-ball to open the second quarter, and then he got his own three in the corner via a Gradey Dick assist. Came out in the second half with a nice defensive stop on Paul George in the post and then had a nice block a few minutes later down low as a help defender that was challenged by Nick Nurse, and unfortunately, the block got wiped away due to a personal foul on AJ. He kept making plays defensively as he forced a Tyrese Maxey turnover shortly after the foul, followed by a finish at the rim in the following offensive possession. He kept carrying the end of the third quarter with a three-ball just a few possessions later. Added another three ball a few minutes later and won an offensive foul on a moving Joel Embiid pick in the following defensive possession. Lawson answered the call tonight and deserved to play much more.

Garbage time.

Two missed three-pointers early on. Nice cross-court feed to AJ Lawson after recovering a loose ball. Set up Lawson yet again, a few minutes later, as he followed a Barnes miss in transition, scooped up the loose ball yet again and found AJ down low for an and one. Had a nice finish down low off a Shead feed late in the third quarter that cut the 76ers’ lead to 20. Started the fourth quarter with a successful trip to the foul line after running the floor hard in transition. He’s playing hard, but he continues to miss very clean three-pointers that he needs to make.

Very quiet start with the starters, as he checked out of the game quite early. He was more involved in the second half of the first quarter as he set up an open look for Gradey Dick via his drive and kick. He ate a hard screen late in the second quarter to give Toronto an offensive possession, but he threw it away in the following offensive possession with a bad pass. Shead’s playmaking came alive late in the third quarter with three consecutive assists. He kept the momentum going with a nice and one floater to open up the fourth quarter. A great sequence of defensive plays as Shead stole a pass and then took a charge one possession later. Almost an F, but he made some plays late to save his night.

Garbage time.

A nice three-ball right at the start of the second quarter, followed up by a rebound on the defensive end right after. A mishap on the sideline as he stepped out of bounds after catching a pass in the corner, and that was it for his night in meaningful minutes, as Battle only checked back in during garbage time late in the fourth quarter.

First Raptor off the bench tonight as Martin’s effort hasn’t gone unnoticed by coach Darko in the last few games. Got a deflection on a loose ball that led to a trip to the free-throw line for Brandon Ingram. Finished strongly at the rim late in the first quarter from a nice drawn-up play. He kept the hustle going in the second quarter when he won an offensive rebound and found Quickley for another one of his floaters, followed by a save through his legs on a ball going out of bounds in the following possession. Just like AJ, he answered the call but wasn’t given enough minutes.

Garbage time.

A poor early challenge in the dying seconds of the first quarter, where Darko was trying to save Scottie from his second personal foul, but it was too desperate of an attempt that had no shot of winning. Not a fan of the rotations tonight as Alijah Martin was playing hard in the first half to only check back in during garbage time. Jonathan Mogbo also had a great game in Boston a few nights ago and was only out there for garbage time, and even though Ochai Agbaji has had a down year, when you’re getting crushed that hard, it won’t hurt you to try something different.