2. Defensive output was exceptional
In holding the Raptors to just 89 points on their home floor, it was no surprise that coach Brown’s opening appraisal of the Game 2 win centered around the defense of his team:
"“I thought our defense at the start of the game was as good as it could be…. I was proud of our defense.”"
While the team did a terrific job in hounding the Raptors’ perimeter shooters and holding them to just 10-of-37 shooting from long range, one of the key adjustments was assigning Joel Embiid to guard forward Pascal Siakam.
In Game 1, Siakam exploded with 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. So despite Embiid entering the game far from 100 percent, it was hoped that his overall length and size would be able to disrupt Siakam in this matchup. To coach Brown’s credit, this move proved decisive, with Siakam shooting just 9-for-25 from the field.
After the game, Brown explained the reasoning for the move:
"“You have a hunch, you hope it works well, we had a taste of some success with Joel on Giannis [Antetokounmpo] in the Milwaukee [season] series, and there are some similarities there.”"
#sixers up 26-17 after 1. The Raptors have missed some open shots, sure, but the adjustments made by Brown, better ball movement, crisper defensive rotations and some great man-to-man defense from Simmons have made a huge different from Game 1.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) April 30, 2019
An additional change-up was assigning Ben Simmons as the primary defender on Kawhi Leonard, considering Leonard’s 45-point explosion in Game 1. Again, Brown outlined the reasons for the move:
"“I felt immediately after Game 1 that Ben with his length maybe has the best chance to guard arguably one of the top three NBA scorers.”"
Defense held Toronto to 36.3%, 10-37 3fg, and the rebounding was +17.
— brianseltzer (@brianseltzer) April 30, 2019
While Leonard still impressed in posting 35 points on 13-of-24 shooting, the overall presence of Simmons and the Sixers as a whole certainly made life slightly tougher for Leonard.