By: Kylan Watson
After falling to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Toronto Raptors for the third time this season with both teams very hurt and desperate for a win in tonight’s game. The Raptors were able to make 16 three-pointers in this contest and that was enough to help them beat Philly 118-105.
Philly started this game off very slowly they could not take advantage of the wide-open three-point opportunities that were created by their ball movement. They only made seven three-pointers during this entire game, and the Raptors made 16 in this game. That was the difference maker in this contest, Toronto took full advantage of every mistake the Sixers made. Whereas Philly just could not score enough points off the Raptors mistakes in this contest.
Once again Quentin Grimes did all he could to get the Sixers back in the win column. He scored 29 points in this contest and got some help from Jeff Dowtin who scored 20 points against his old team which is a new career high for him. Both players combined to score 49 of Philly’s 105 points, and with their efforts on both sides of the ball they were able to erase a 20 plus point Raptors lead to make this a three-point game. However, Philly just could not get the stops and did not have enough healthy bodies available to stop Toronto in this contest.
Grimes continues to make the argument that when the Sixers finally have their full complement of stars, he should either be the starting shooting guard next to Maxey or the sixth man coming off the bench for Philly. His game really combines well with Maxey, Embiid, and George’s and with the way he is playing the Sixers need to sign him to a long-term deal and make him the starter.
Despite the scoring explosion from Grimes and Dowtin, Toronto was able to regain control of this game thanks to their second unit. Which dominated the Sixers second unit and really made their mark in this contest. A.J. Lawson (28 points), Jared Rhoden (25 points, and Orlando Robinson (25 points) took full advantage of the fact that the Raptors did not play any of their star players in the contest. That left the scoring load up for grabs and Lawson took full advantage of the opportunity to make a name for himself. He was the leading scorer for the Raptors, and he did a lot of damage from the three-point line. As he made four/nine three-pointers in this contest.
His ability to make tough shots in this game really saved the Raptors from turning the ball over and given Philly an opportunity to retake control of the game. Lawson made a name for himself in this contest and put the league on notice that he might be an up-and-coming player in the association. He did the job tonight making just enough baskets to help his team win this game.
The Sixers will now prepare to face the Indiana Pacers in South Philly on Friday night. They should be getting some reinforcements this weekend and need to call some players up from the G-League just to have some healthy bodies to finish the rest of this season.
Philly will need to limit to the Pacers to one possession, make their high-percentage shooting opportunities created by their ball movement, and limit their turnovers against an aggressive Pacers defensive scheme. In addition, they must force the Pacers to take well-contested shots if they want to slow down their explosive offense. Implementing this into their game plan should put them in great shape to win their 23rd game of the season.