The Sixers’ road battle against the Raptors continued Sunday night, even in a game that did not take place in Toronto.
The Sixers fell to the Raptors, 110-103, in the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and dropped to 20-11 on the season.
Ben Simmons had 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Joel Embiid had 25 points and 17 rebounds in the game after scoring 50 in his career. Danny Green had five steals and two blocks, but was left behind with 6:40 left.
Fred VanVleet (23 points, nine assists) and Pascal Siakam (23 points, eight assists) excelled for Toronto, and Chris Boucher’s 5-for-6 night from outside the arc hurt the Sixers.
The Sixers and Raptors will conclude their mini-series for two games on Tuesday night. Here are observations on Sunday’s game:
Simmons assumes where he left off
When he played in his first game since scoring a career-high 42 points, none of Simmons’ offensive aggression seemed to fade during his illness-related absence. He scored five of the Sixers’ first seven points by pushing the ball into the open floor where possible and by plowing contact to get to the edge.
Simmons maintained the approach throughout the entire first half, shooting 6 for 8 from both the field and the free-throw line. His sharp defensive instincts were also evident.
After his 10-for-14 night at the foul line, Simmons is 22 of 27 on free throws over his last two games.
“Sometimes it just takes a little while before you see what we’re trying to do, and Ben does it,” said head coach Six Rivers. ‘He’s aggressive; he comes to the basket; he plays; he forces double teams. with his speed. And our goal before the year was to see if he could get out at the dirt line ten times a night, and he did. ”
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse mentioned before the game that the way potential All-Stars play against his team mostly has an effect on the votes for the seven reserves of the Eastern Conference, which will be announced on Tuesday night. We assume Simmons increased his case because he was on the nurse’s mood with his performance Sunday.
Birds of prey delay Embiid (relative)
OG Anunoby, six feet and seven, took the opening spot against Embiid when Toronto started with small ball. The Raptors tried to obstruct Embiid by putting him in front and immediately sending traps when he caught the ball anywhere near the basket. The well-known enemy Aron Baynes also took into account Nurse’s divergent defensive plan and started the second half, although true 1-on-1 chances for Embiid were very sparse.
Although he was not nearly as good as normal in midfield and shot 6 for 20 off the floor, Embiid’s decision-making was generally solid as he teamed up double.
“When I crossed halfway, they sent two, three guys to me to make sure I would not be the one who beat them tonight,” Embiid said. “Overall, I thought I was staying within myself and within the concept of the team, and I made a lot of passes out of it. We just did not make enough shots tonight. ”
The Toronto defense scheme led the Sixers by three points. The team scored 11 for 37 from long range, its most three-point tries in a game since Jan. 14. The passing of Embiid led to several instant possession in which the Sixers swung the ball around the perimeter and forced Toronto to scramble. To the credit of the Raptors, they are a strong defensive team in this type of series.
Simmons acknowledged that Toronto did well defensively, noting that the Sixers miss the shots they usually make, a consensus among team members who spoke to reporters after the game.
“They cover each other, communicate and move pretty well,” Simmons said. “I think in general we got a very nice look in the attack. They just did not fall … It’s just the way the game went.”
Tobias Harris had a characteristically rough first quarter, and he shot 1 for 9 off the floor and scored several times in the separate against Siakam. None of the shots he tried were not advisable, but through his miss, VanVleet’s wave of three three-pointers gave momentum momentum in Toronto’s favor during a 20-2 run to end the quarter.
He then fared better, scoring 13 points on 6-for-17 shooting and seven assists in the game, but the Sixers could have used a more effective third-scoring option on Sunday night, especially when Embiid and the team as a whole had . struggling to produce the piece.
Search the bank for answers
Shake Milton returned after putting out five games with a left ankle, and he was the Sixers’ first substitute. He replaces Simmons, who Rivers later played with four members of the Sixers’ second unit. It has become clear to Rivers that using all-bench lineups is a dangerous game with the current list.
“We need to have Tobias, Joel or Ben at the unit,” he said Friday. ‘And if we do not, sometimes you just look at the guidance. Tonight was one of those things where I honestly just looked at the score. You can see that this is going to be one of those games where it’s going to come to an end. We used the second unit in the second half to get eight minutes. This is what we tried to do. ‘
Isaiah Joe was again part of the rotation, while Furkan Korkmaz first appeared before Matisse Thybulle picked up his third offense (and a technical one) early in the second quarter.
Korkmaz’s place felt insignificant for a while, especially after scoring only 3 of his last 19 field goals in Sunday’s game. His defense and decision-making were certainly not positive either. He was 0 for 2 in two first halves against Toronto.
Joe played some strong defensive possessions when paired with Norman Powell, locating him well off the ball, eliminating potential corners and taking a charge on one play where Powell tried to drive through the rookie.
Joe attributed the team’s veterans to the Sixers result on Sunday morning because they helped him not have much certainty about his playing time in the NBA.
“Even when I come in, take a few shots and miss or make it, they always keep me up and say it’s just part of the job, it’s part of the game,” he said. “To just work every day, keep grinding, and all the rest is basketball – nothing changes.”
Unlike Simmons, Milton did not run the ground on his return. He missed his first five field goals before breaking the ice by hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key in the third quarter. Milton later drained two more tries and finished with nine points on 3-for-11 shooting and two assistants in 29 minutes.
“Keep working on it,” Rivers said when asked about his bench being outscored by the Raptors’ second unit 35-16. “It’s 31 games in the season. It’s not been like that with our bench all year, it’s just like that lately. We’ll work it through. I thought in the second half, we never matched correctly with the bench. “transition. I thought that was where they beat us more. And then we could not score. We fix it.”