Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers: a Troubled Raptors’ Lineup

The confrontation between Toronto and Philadelphia was a struggle for leading positions in the East, and now the Sixers are only 5th in the table, and the Raptors are 10th. The Canadian club misses many key players. Will it put up a decent resistance to last year's winner of the Eastern Conference?

The Raptors turned out to have an exciting squad: all the starting lineup players play defence brilliantly. Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet have already played at the near-star level, Gary Trent has gained form, and Scotty Barnes may seek the title of the best newbie of the year. Ogugua Anunoby missed a lot of matches, and now he is not playing because of the coronavirus. Goran Dragić, Precious Achiuwa, Khem Birch, Isaac Bonga, Malachi Flynn, Justin Champagnie and David Johnson will also not play, and the entire starting lineup of the Raptors — VanVleet, Trent, Barnes, Anunoby and Siakam. That is why the club recently signed Daniel Oturu, Tremont Waters and Juwan Morgan.

In the last eight matches, Toronto has won 5 victories. The team showed only the 19th field goal percentage (34.1%) in this period. Trent, Vanvleet, Barnes and Siakam took part in most of the games, but they were not in the past match, and it all ended with a 99:144 defeat from Cleveland. Nick Ners' wards often lost possession and conceded 34 points. It was difficult to count on an offence when Yuta Watanabe and Chris Boucher became the key players. Outside shots fell short, and the Raptors could maintain the intrigue.

The Sixers have lost ground compared to last season, but the team may gain momentum, finally recovering from injuries. Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid have missed 20 games, and Philadelphia is still only in 6th place in the Eastern Conference standings. Without Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey is extremely important for the 76ers. Danny Green, Shake Milton and Andre Drummond are not currently eligible.

Doc Rivers' wards won 2 of the last three regular-season matches, and the day before, they defeated Washington away — 117:96. The Sixers threw plenty of midrange shots; Embiid, Harris and Maxi were especially remarkable. The first half was tense, but after the break, Philadelphia played well on defence - 8 blocked shots also contributed to the team's success, with two blocks from Jayden Springer and Joel Embiid. In the end, the Cameroonian man in the middle was the undisputed leader of the Sixers: he scored 39 points and made 13 rebounds.

• Toronto has won 5 home matches out of 10.
• Philadelphia has won 6 of the last ten away matches.
• Toronto is in 14th place in the NBA offensive ranking, Philadelphia is in 15th position.

The opponents could have fought as equals, provided that at least four key Toronto players joined the team. The game with Cleveland showed big problems in defence, and the upcoming match can end up with a blow-out. The Philadelphia squad is much closer to balance. The mere presence of Embiid and Harris gives the visiting team a significant advantage. It is hardly worth waiting for offensive achievements from Boucher, Watanabe and those who have only recently returned to the league. The following betting options are available: 

• Handicap 2 (-6.5) for 2.00
• Total Under (211.5) for 2.30
• Individual Total 1 Under (101.5) for 2.30