7:40 pm
April 18

Raptors @ 76ers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Toronto Raptors (48-34)

@ Philadelphia 76ers (51-31)

 

Current odds:

Toronto Raptors: (+256)

Philadelphia 76ers: (-333)

 

• The line for this game is 76ers by 7.5 points.

• If Tyrese Maxey keeps ascending at this pace, the Philadelphia 76ers likely will make a deep run in the NBA playoffs. Maxey scored 38 points, one shy of his career high, and the fourth-seeded Sixers blitzed the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors 131-111 in Game 1 of the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday.

• Maxey shot 66.7 percent from the field, and he became one of just 11 players 21 years or younger in league history to score 35 points or more in a playoff game, according to Stathead.

• Tobias Harris added 26 points, James Harden contributed 22 points and 14 assists and Joel Embiid had 19 points and 15 rebounds. But Maxey made the biggest impression.

• While the Raptors were soundly defeated, it’s still only one loss. There’s plenty of time to respond. “We’ve just got to be better,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said. “For us, I think in the first half they had zero (turnovers) and I told the team, I don’t remember a half in nine years that I’ve been here where we haven’t turned a team over at all. Just goes to not enough ball pressure, not enough active hands, probably not enough physicality. Things that you need to do.”

• Toronto will enter Game 2 with some injury concerns. Scottie Barnes hobbled to the locker room early in the fourth quarter after Embiid landed heavily on his left foot. Barnes was listed as doubtful following an MRI Sunday. Thaddeus Young left at halftime with a sprained left thumb, further depleting the Raptors’ depth. Young is likewise listed as doubtful for Game 2, along with guard Gary Trent (non-COVID illness).

• For Toronto, Pascal Siakam led the way with 24 points, OG Anunoby added 20, Fred VanVleet had 18 and Barnes contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds before exiting.

• They’ll need more to come up with a series-evening road victory. “I wouldn’t say we lost ourselves. I think we just weren’t ourselves in a lot of areas,” VanVleet said. “I think a lot of what we do is predicated on our aggressiveness and our length and making plays on the ball, causing turnovers, blocking shots. And I think whether that was jitters from some of the newer guys or the whistle or whatever the case may be, we were just a little slow.”

7/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Philadelphia 76ers
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