Optimism Abounds for 76ers After Loss to Toronto

By Matt Gregan, Sports Talk Philly Editor

Did the 76ers find a recipe for success in the playoffs? Despite the team's 125-121 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, there are reasons for optimism heading into the playoffs. 

The Raptors have been a team the 76ers have struggled against historically, and the last three years have been no different. Over the last three seasons, Philadelphia has gone a meager 3-9 against Toronto. This season, Toronto's defense has given Philadelphia fits, holding them to just 105.5 points per game (100.3 points per game before Wednesday's game in the bubble). 

Philadelphia, in Wednesday's loss to Toronto, finally found the recipe for success against the Raptors: play a physical, bruising style of basketball and overwhelm Toronto's small lineup. There were moments in Wednesday's action, albeit briefly, when the 76ers Simmons-less starting lineup showed they could dominate and bully Toronto. The 76ers built up an 18-8 lead heading into the team's first substitution, made with 6:22 remaining in the first quarter. The 76ers played harassing, physical defense to keep Toronto from getting into an early rhythm, something the bubble-version of the Sixers have been unable to do.

Offensively, the 76ers utilized multiple different players out of the post as they played a bully-ball style of offense against a smaller Toronto lineup. Tobias Harris scored seven points on 3-for-3 shooting over a roughly six minute stretch to open the game where both starting lineups were in. Harris was not relying on the outside shot early on. Instead, he was driving aggressively to the basket or posting up his smaller defender and finding a lot of success working around the paint.

Things obviously went differently the rest of the game as the starters were rested for most of the second half (Josh Richardson and Harris led the Sixers' starters in minutes with 24), but for one brief moment fans glimpsed what this 76ers starting lineup is capable of.

The 76ers, even without Ben Simmons, are capable of hanging with any team in the NBA if they play with intensity and physicality. The 76ers face off against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The Sixers should be able to continue to pound the ball in the post using the size mismatch created from having a starting lineup with Tobias Harris (6-foot-8), Al Horford (6-foot-9) and Joel Embiid (7-foot) against a smaller Boston Celtics lineup.

The first six minutes of action from Wednesday against Toronto should prove to be a preview of what the first round will look like for Philadelphia. The Raptors are a team the 76ers could potentially face in the playoffs, and on Wednesday the 76ers' starters proved they found the recipe for facing off against teams like Toronto and Boston, their first-round foe.