Here are five takeaways from the Toronto Raptors‘ 104-101 overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
1. There are two types of Raptors games of late and they both end in losses. There are the ones where they don’t defend, give up nearly 40 points in the first quarter, spend the whole game catching up and maybe putting together a desperate comeback but still lose. This game was the other type, where the Raptors were scrappy throughout, kept it close by playing to their potential on defence, adjusted their rotation as needed to stay in the fight, had the lead late, only to still lose out in the end. Give the Raptors props for at least making it entertaining before arriving at the same result as they had been for the past month. The issue today was their offence, whereas the issue on Sunday was defence. They will need to actually play both ends of the floor if their six-game losing streak is to be snapped. Still, if you’re looking for signs of encouragement, this game did have it. If the Raptors approached every game with that type of intensity, the wins will come.
2. Pascal Siakam did everything within his power to will the Raptors to victory. There’s always a bit of extra motivation for Siakam in this matchup against fellow countryman Joel Embiid, whom he always battles with an adversarial edge. Siakam has also jawed with P.J. Tucker in recent meetings, which only adds more fuel, not that Siakam needs it. He went at the Sixers relentlessly Monday, showing no fear of Tucker’s physicality or Embiid’s shot-blocking as Siakam put the Raptors on his back regardless of how uphill the battle was. Siakam got the touch back on his face-up game, and was knocking in midrange jumpers with confidence, and even nailed three pull-up threes. Defensively, Siakam took the punishment on moving screens and with the game on the line in regulation, Siakam switched out on Embiid, pressured him to catch it well above the arc, and then pressuring him into a contested fadeaway that fell way short. Siakam had also tied it before that with a stretching scoop shot from outside of the paint that needed the perfect touch at an obtuse angle to fall in. Despite playing 48 minutes, including all but one minute of the second half and overtime, Siakam still had the most energy to push in transition off his 15 defensive rebounds, and consistently drew double teams to spring his teammates open.
3. Siakam badly needs someone to run with him, and that’s where the problem has been. Neither one of Fred VanVleet or Scottie Barnes has been the answer this season as the No. 2 option. VanVleet needed to be hid defensively as the Sixers were looking to get him involved in the James Harden and Embiid pick-and-roll, while he couldn’t create offence either despite strong offensive showings of late. VanVleet mostly brought the ball up and handed it off to Siakam, and then waited for kickout chances for threes, but even those he couldn’t convert as he missed a pair of wide-open looks in overtime that were back-breakers. As for Barnes, he competed defensively and the Raptors were actively looking to get him to switch onto Harden or Embiid, but left so much to be desired offensively. He couldn’t find chances to feed off Siakam, and when he did have a chance to run the offence in the second quarter, the Raptors surrendered a quick run to fall behind in the double digits. From that point onward, Barnes was just floating on offence and never looked to get himself involved until in overtime, when Barnes was able to score Toronto’s only basket off a feed from Siakam. The Raptors need either one of them to keep the show running while Siakam sits, and for them to pair with Siakam when he is on. Instead, they combined for 15 points on 24 shots.
4. O.G. Anunoby was rusty in his return, but found his legs as the game went on and single-handedly kept the Raptors close with his defence. Philadelphia’s whole strategy was to play through Embiid and Harden’s two-man game, and Anunoby was Toronto’s best bet against both players. Down the stretch in regulation, Anunoby forced Embiid into two misses in single coverage on the same possession after his teammates failed to secure the initial defensive rebound, then on the next trip down, Anunoby pressured Harden into a bad jumper that missed, which allowed Siakam the chance to tie off the rebound. He wasn’t as effective offensively, where he turned down chances early on to catch-and-shoot from three, and he didn’t drive as much as he did before missing the past week with injury. But despite his low usage, Anunoby still finished as the Raptors’ second-leading scorer. He is the second-best player on the team, and it’s up to Anunoby and Siakam to carry them to wins at the moment.
5. Chris Boucher had his best game of December. For whatever reason, he seems to relish this matchup against Philadelphia in a trend dating back to the Tampa season. Because the Raptors have to constantly show doubles against Embiid, Boucher’s mobility and length to cover ground quickly in rotation is always a major part of head coach Nick Nurse’s game plan, and making the hustle plays seems to spark his scoring. Boucher had two hard drives to bait the defence into rotation before he laid it off to Siakam and Thad Young for layups, which is a play you rarely see from him, and he made a three midway through the fourth to give Toronto a seven-point edge. Boucher entered the third with five minutes left and never sat back down.
