3 observations: Other Sixers step up to lead team past Raptors in Tampa
The Philadelphia 76ers were in need of others to step up and provide some help with their stars struggling a bit. They got so in a big way on Tuesday night as they knocked off the Toronto Raptors 109-102 on the road for their first road regular-season win over Toronto since Nov. 10, 2012. Although, this one was in Tampa, Florida instead of Toronto due to COVID restrictions in Canada.
The Sixers had six players score in double-figures led by Tobias Harris with 23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. He knocked down three triples on the night when the team needed it the most.
Furkan Korkmaz had 19 points and seven rebounds starting in place of Seth Curry, Joel Embiid had 18 points on 3-for-13 shooting with 12 rebounds, Ben Simmons had 15 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, Shake Milton had 11 off the bench, and Danny Green also had 11.
Here are the three observations following the win in Tampa:
Others stepping up
This cannot be overstated. With Toronto continuing to bother Embiid and them walling off Simmons a bit, the Sixers needed others to provide some offense until the two stars could get into a groove. The play of Korkmaz, Green, Harris, and even Milton and Matisse Thybulle off the bench was huge. Philadelphia needed all of that in this one as well as their defensive energy to be able to win with the stars struggling. Milton and Harris knocked down some clutch triples in the fourth when they really needed it. Embiid has been superhuman all season, but the Raptors always seem to give him trouble every time they matchup. Also, he is not going to be a scoring machine every single time out, although it does seem like he will. On those rare nights, that is when others have to step up and provide production and that is what happened in this one.
Shots actually falling
Basketball is a make or miss game. Sometimes the ball just isn’t going to drop for you. That is what happened on Sunday when the Sixers could not buy a bucket, but things changed on Tuesday as they were able to get some shots to fall early, especially from a struggling Korkmaz. He shot 4-for-6 from deep in the first quarter to really set the tone and that was good to see for a guy who has had an extremely tough go at it recently. They were getting the same open looks they had on Sunday with the only difference being that they fell on Tuesday. The ball was whipping around and the Sixers were getting good shots off the attention that both Simmons and Embiid drew on the floor. The Raptors send hard doubles and triples toward Embiid and he made the right move every time down on the floor in order to get his teammates involved and that is why Philadelphia was able to succeed despite his struggles.
Simmons' continued aggression
This is one area of Simmons’ game that gets critiqued a lot as he has a reputation of shying away from contact. Recently, he has gone in accepting the contact and, really, powering through it. He has been terrific in that respect as he continues his newfound offensive aggression on that end of the floor. If the Sixers get this type of play from him, it can add more to their offense and make it even more versatile. He probably should have attempted more free throws than the six he took in this one. There were a lot of calls the officials let slide. Defensively, he started the game against Fred VanVleet before later switching onto Pascal Siakam and he bothered both players. The way he can seamlessly switch from player to player is something that is really impressive to watch. He can really bother anybody the Sixers throw at him and he can make life tough as ever.
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