By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Toronto Raptors for the second time in 11 days. Toronto scored 31 points from 21 turnovers committed by the Sixers and that led the Raptors to the 121-112 victory.

The Sixers could not find their rhythm early in this contest, they turned the ball over way too much throughout this game. Whenever the Sixers tried to get back in this game a turnover happened, and the Raptors were able to extend their lead. When the Sixers limited their turnovers, they were able to find the holes in the Raptors defensive scheme and put points on the board. However, they just could not overcome their inability to take care of the ball.

Tyrese Maxey (24 points), VJ Edgecombe (21 points), and Quentin Grimes (21 points) combined for 66 of the Sixers’ 112 points in this contest. The trio were able to take full advantage of Toronto’s inability to stop them in this contest. Edgecombe was able to use his athleticism and two-way ability to keep Philly in this game and he led a fourth quarter comeback attempt. His defensive ability was huge for the Sixers in this contest he made everything difficult for his matchup and caused some pivotal turnovers to erase a 16-point Toronto lead. He made this game winnable and the Sixers turnovers and allowing Toronto to score 44 points in the third quarter finished them off.

Credit to the Raptors they took full advantage of the Sixers mistakes in this game, RJ Barrett (22 points), Brandon Ingram (22 points), Jakob Poeltl (19 points), and Immanuel Quickley (18 points) combined for 81 of Toronto’s 121 points. Quickley took full advantage of Philly’s lack of wing defenders in this contest. Additionally, he saved multiple possessions by Toronto that looked like they were not going anywhere and put points on the board. He was able to hit the game sealing dagger three-pointer to lead Toronto to their fifth straight victory. The Raptors were also able to slow Tyrese Maxey down enough by blitzing him and putting taller defenders on him to make everything difficult for him. He forced some passes that turned into points for the Raptors.

Philly did not play well enough to win this game and must fix their turnovers and third quarter issues. They have done an excellent job of limiting their turnovers throughout most of the games this season and must protect the ball and make smart decisions with the ball, playing with pace cannot lead to dumb passes that turn into points for the opposing team. They can fix the turnover issue but the most consistent issue throughout 14 games has been their inability to put together an average third quarter. They must maintain their focus on both sides of the court in that period. Tonight, they gave up 44 points to a Raptors team that is a lot better but is not an offensive juggernaut. They need to continue to build trust and make good decisions. Doing that will help them improve in the third quarter.

The Sixers will now prepare to face the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow night, who will not have Giannis Antetokounmpo available because of a calf injury. However, the Milwaukee Bucks are a dangerous team that will make Philly pay for bad defense and turnovers. The Sixers need to continue to use their ball movement to create high-percentage shooting opportunities and not play hero ball like they did against Toronto tonight. Secondly, they must limit their turnovers as well and not give Milwaukee easy opportunities to put points on the board and communicate on the defensive end and stay on their defensive assignment. Implementing these things into their gameplan should put Philly in great position to win their ninth game of the season.