After a one-sided opener over the weekend, the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers resume their second-round series on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
The Raptors can take a 2-0 lead in the series with a win tonight, while the reeling 76ers could be without their best player in what feels like a must-win game.
Here are some notes ahead of Game 2:
The Kawhi aftermath
It seems most everybody is still buzzing from Kawhi Leonard’s 45-point performance on Saturday night. It wasn’t just the point total, which is the most by a Raptor in the playoffs in 18 years, but the brutish yet calculated way in which he carved Philadelphia up.
Of course, Leonard’s impact was felt on both ends of the floor. including a soul-crushing block on Tobias Harris when it looked like the Sixers could make a run and mount a comeback in Game 1.
But the question on the morning of Game 2 remains: How do the Sixers’ stop Kawhi?
The way he’s been playing, there may not be an answer.
“When you look back at the game and some of the shots that he made,” 76ers head coach Brett Brown said ahead of his team’s shootaround on Monday morning at Scotiabank Arena, “it’s like, he’s releasing it” Brown beings slapping his own hand in the shooting motion, “and you have Jimmy [Butler], Tobias [Harris], who’s six-nine, Ben [Simmons], who’s six-ten — and he’s making tough shots.”
“But,” he pauses, presumably for dramatic effect, “they go in.”
On paper, the Sixers have the kind of personnel who should be able to guard a wing scorer like Leonard, but the Raptors’ all-star has been on a roll since the playoffs began and is showing off a level of offensive skill that he hasn’t reached before. So there’s not a lot to suggest Philadelphia will find the answer to the series’ most important question.
“When somebody’s making shots like that, when they get in a rhythm early,” Sixers’ forward Jimmy Butler explained Monday, “it’s tough to cut that water off. We can only play the same type of defence against him tonight and see where we end up.”
Embiid watch
Arguably the most significant positional matchup in the series is at centre, where Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid has feasted on his opponent throughout the season and playoffs — until Game 1 in Toronto. Embiid, who averaged 25 points, 13.5 rebounds, and three blocks per game in round one, was limited on Saturday night, scoring just 16 points in the loss.
Part of that could be explained by lingering knee soreness that has kept him out of one game already this post-season. But it was ultimately Marc Gasol’s defence that slowed the 76ers big man. Healthy or not, Gasol has been able to limit Embiid throughout his career.
Embiid shot 1-8 when matched up with Gasol on Saturday, a bad sign for a Philadelphia team that needs their star centre to dominate if they have a chance to succeed — particularly given the obvious limitations of Ben Simmons. And despite Gasol’s stellar job on Saturday, Embiid still managed to finish with a plus-four (the only Sixers starter above zero) in 29 minutes of action.
But things could continue to go downhill for Embiid, who missed Philadelphia’s shootaround on Monday with what the team says is a bout of gastroenteritis. He is listed as “probable” for Game 2 tonight.
Motivated underdogs
The Raptors and Leonard made a statement in Game 1. The team — particularly the starters — controlled both ends of the floor, as the final 108-95 score didn’t capture how lopsided things felt at times. Leonard, with 45 points on 16-23 shooting, established himself as the single most dominating force in the series as the Raptors find themselves heavy favourites for Monday’s Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
A lot went right for Toronto — including near-flawless nights from both Leonard and Pascal Siakam — as they effectively shut down the Sixers’ biggest weapons. It’s hard not to like the Raptors odds heading into tonight.
“We understand that nobody gives us a chance,” 76ers head coach Brett Brown said prior to Philadelphia’s morning shoot around at Scotiabank Arena. He cited an ESPN predictions article published ahead of the series where two out of the 20 writers polled chose the Sixers to advance. “Our local writers?” he prompts. “0 of 6 thought we could win. We understand that. It’s not anything that influences us. In fact, it motivates us.”
If there’s a sense of urgency from the Sixers’ performance on Monday, it’ll be for good reason. The Raptors are eying an opportunity to take a 2-0 series lead with them into Philadelphia, where they split a pair of games during the regular season.
“You wanna try to steal one on the road and go back to the crib 1-1,” said Jimmy Butler, who, if he was worried about slowing the rolling Raptors, did an excellent job of hiding it. “We’ll look at some film…We’ll be okay. Just gotta lock in and do what we’re supposed to do.”
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