Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from Game 6 loss vs. 76ers

1. Poor response after a blowout win

The Toronto Raptors were amazing in Game 5’s blowout win. Six players were in double figures, team was rolling, energy was high and they set a franchise record for postseason margin of victory, +36. Thursday night, the Sixers came back with vengeance, being more physical throughout.

For the Raptors, three of those six players from Game 5’s double-digit scorers were horrendous. Serge Ibaka shot 3-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-3 from deep. Green shot 25 percent, with all  of his shots coming from beyond the arc. Lastly, Marc Gasol‘s offense may have been disappeared by Thanos’ snap of his fingers. He didn’t score a bucket until the start of the fourth quarter.

All five of the Raptors’ starters were -9 or worse on the night and turned the ball over 12 times — two of which were on back-to-back possessions to start the fourth quarter in an attempt to close the gap while trailing by 20.

When the starters get outplayed and have non-producers from the bench such as Ibaka or Fred VanVleet, who was held without a bucket again, it is very difficult to win games. The Raptors being bullied inside, their inability to shoot the ball from deep efficiently and getting out-hustled on the glass was the formula to their Game 6 blowout loss.

https://twitter.com/Raptors/status/1126653686170759168

Not all things were negative from the game. When the reserves came in, they cut a 22-point deficit down to 11 in under four minutes of action, showing life in a mostly lifeless second half. Embiid continued to struggle in the series when matched up against Gasol. Furthermore, Leonard and Siakam combined for 50 points on 47.5 percent shooting.

Going into Game 7, they need to tend to their strengths, such as scoring more than 11 fast break points and being more efficient from deep on their good looks. They have a real chance to win Sunday night at home and change the narrative going into the Eastern Conference Finals.