Philadelphia 76ers: 3 takeaways from Game 7 heartbreaker vs. Raptors

1. No star showed up for Philly

Game 7s serve as an interesting contrast to traditional NBA basketball. Most games, even those in the playoffs, are spent with an eye on the future. That means coaches won’t usually play their stars ridiculously heavy minutes for fear of burning them out well before the series comes to a close.

In the final game of a playoff matchup, though, it all goes out the window. There is no guaranteed next game. What matters is doing everything possible to live to fight another day. When that time comes, it’s usually the best players that wind up having the biggest impact.

The Sixers notably have one of the most talented starting units in all the NBA. All five averaged above 15.0 points per game during the regular season, with each showing the ability to serve as the go-to option on any given night.

None of them really played terribly during their last game of the season. The lowest output among them  — Ben Simmons –still put in 13. With the knowledge that most are capable of doing more, however, they fell a bit flat. As mentioned earlier, Embiid scored 21 points, 6.5 below his regular season average.

It’s clear that the All-Star big man has much to work on this summer, most notably his shot selection. Of his 18 attempts in Game 7, only four of them came within the restricted area, while six of them came from beyond the arc with just a single make to show for it.

Jimmy Butler, the player brought in for these high-pressure situations, finished with 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting. In fairness, 10 of those came in the fourth quarter. Had that production been present in the first 36 minutes, though, Philly may have been in a better position to steal this game.

With so many in need of touches, it’s difficult for any one player on the 76ers to match the 39 attempts Kawhi Leonard had. But with the game there for the taking in the fourth quarter, Philly needed someone to grab it by the horns and at worst go down swinging.

Simmons doesn’t have that type of talent and Tobias Harris — who took just nine shot attempts — doesn’t have the personality. The burden fell on either Butler or Embiid. Neither stepped up to the challenge, and their season is now over because of it.