What once looked like a possible win is now an intriguing streak as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 103-88 in Game 5 Monday night. The win was the second straight win for Toronto and a run that had started 3-0 in favor of Philadelphia is now 3-2 with Game 6 being played in Toronto on Thursday night.
The Raptors were without All-Star guard Fred VanVleet due to a hip injury he sustained in Game 4, but they got plenty of other entries. Pascal Siakam led Toronto with a near triple-double – 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Precious Achiuwa scored 17 points and snatched seven rebounds off the bench, and Gary Trent Jr. and OG Anunoby added 16 points each. Toronto shot 50 percent from the ground and turned over the ball just nine times.
On the other hand, all five Sixers starters had double-digit goals — led by Joel Embiid (20 points, 11 rebounds) — but none of them played particularly well, and Philadelphia’s bench was outplayed 29-11 over the course of the contest.
It was a worrying overall performance from Philly as they certainly didn’t muster the energy, dedication and focus that would have been expected of them to finish the series in front of their home fans who sat in front of them. Of more concern is the fact that this is Philly’s second consecutive poor performance. Instead of shutting out the Raptors, they’ve allowed them to hang around and gain confidence and will therefore be a more difficult team to eliminate.
Here are three key takeaways from Toronto’s Game 5 win over Philadelphia.
1. Toronto’s size was a problem for Philly
Missing the game by Fred VanVleet could have been a blessing in disguise for the Raptors. He’s been critical to Toronto’s success all season, but the Sixers did have some serious defensive work early in the series. With him out, Nick Nurse and the Raptors went big, choosing a starting lineup of Siakam, Onunoby, Trent Jr., Birch and Barnes. Trent Jr. is the shortest of these players at 6’5″. Off the bench, Toronto only played three players (not counting the final minute of trash time) – Thaddeus Young, Chris Boucher and Achiuwa. These guys are all at least 6’8′ .
In other words, Toronto had an extremely large lineup out there throughout the game, which rattled Philadelphia. The Sixers, like earlier in the series, struggled to penetrate color and also struggled to pull off a clean look. This is reflected in the fact that they shot only 38 percent from the field and 27 percent from afar. Toronto’s size also led to turnovers — 15 of them from the Sixers.
This isn’t intended as a swipe at VanVleet, but in this series his absence could be an addition-by-subtraction scenario for the Raptors. His Game 6 status is still a question at this point, but regardless of whether he plays or not, the Sixers need to find a way to better cope with Toronto’s size.
2. A miserable second quarter for Philadelphia
One could argue that this game was lost in the second quarter. After 12 minutes one down, the Sixers were outplayed 25-14 in the second, and after that they were never able to fully get back into the game. They shot from the floor just five of 22 in the quarter and had as many turnovers as assists (three). Look how ugly this shot table looks:
There’s just no excuse for just 14 points in an entire quarter, especially when your heavyweights are playing crucial minutes. Embiid played over eight minutes in the quarter. Harden played 10. Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey both played the entire quarter. These guys should be able to muster upwards of a little over a point a minute, and Doc Rivers should be able to put them in a position to be more productive when the offense falters, as is clearly the case case was.
To end that streak and put Toronto out of the way, the Sixers will have to work a full 48 minutes. They can no longer afford such poor quarters.
3. Toronto dominated the color
One would think that the team with the dominant center would win the battle for the points, but that wasn’t the case in Game 5. Despite Embiid’s presence on the floor, Toronto beat Philadelphia by 20 points (56-36). to paint. The Raptors consistently hit the edge, and once they got there, they finished. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Raptors converted 24 of their 28 attempts within four feet of the basket. The Sixers had 29 such tries but converted only 18 of them. Going forward, the Sixers want to better protect the rim while converting lighter attempts at the other end.