After the regular season, the Philadelphia 76ers shared the same record as the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics, but because of the win-loss relationship, they were relegated to fourth place in the East. For the 76ers, this not only makes it possible to lose home advantage once they enter the second round, but also the 76ers will encounter the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs, who are fifth in the East in the regular season, and we can see from the ranking that the gap between the Raptors and the 76ers is not particularly large, and the style of this team may create more obstacles for the 76ers.
You should know that in the final stage of the regular season, the 76ers had a narrow encounter with the Raptors, and they also lost to their opponents at that time. In that game, 76ers star Joel Embiid was still in good shape, cutting a double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds. So in the playoffs, no matter whether the Raptors line up the regular lineup, let Ken Birch or junior Achuva defend Embiid, or simply make a surprise move, let Pascal Siakam play the center position in the small ball lineup, and the teammates around them are responsible for assisting in the defense, it is unlikely to block Embiid.
But for the Raptors, it doesn't matter if you can't prevent Embiid, after all, basketball is a team project, even if Embiid kills everyone, if the teammates around him can't stand up, then the 76ers' winning side is actually not big. In particular, when the two sides last met, James Harden only shot 3 of 12, only 13 points and 4 rebounds, although he delivered 15 assists, but obviously did not cause enough lethality to the opponent.
The Raptors' most threatening weapon is that they can even line up a strong small-ball lineup of one guard and four forwards, although the Raptors do not have a real superstar, but everyone is a soldier, everyone seems very selfless and united, and it is impossible to crush them in one go. Pascal Siakam is the most crucial link, he usually starts as a starting striker, but at this stage even in the decisive moment of the game, Pascal Siakam will be on top of the center. And this is obviously one of the Raptors' signature weapons, the last four games of the regular season, Pascal Siakam has scored at least 29 points, and the last time he played against the Philadelphia 76ers, he simply bombed a triple-double of 37 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, although slightly deficient as a core player, Pascal Siakam is the perfect second in the active game.
Scott Barnes, as last year's no.4 pick in the first round, has also improved rapidly this season. Speaking of which, the outside world thought that the Raptors would choose a point guard to fill the gap between Kyle Lowry and get Jaylen Sagas of Gonzaga University. Unexpectedly, the Raptors chose Scott Barnes, which was unexpected by the vast majority of people. Fortunately, Scott Barnes is very competitive, averaging 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season, basically locking in a rookie position, and in addition to the lack of stable projection, Scott Barnes has shown the potential to become an All-Star player.
OG Anunoby is a step by step, he has made steady progress every season, and has now become an important rotation for the Raptors. OG-Anunoby averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals this season, the 24-year-old forward is tall and athletic, OG Anunoby has a three-point shooting rate of 36.3% this season, and when he plays with Pascal Siakam and Scott Barnes, three players can make unlimited changes.
The Raptors started with a sense of suffocation and the bench was unambiguous, with Boucher a bit like a weakened version of Pascal Siakam, who could play all four or five. Boucher averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game this season, a slight decline compared to the past two years, but it is still a very good interior rotation. The Raptors' team building strategy is to choose a group of young talents with outstanding physical conditions and ball business at least reaching the average level, after all, if you want to win the championship, many times rely on superstars, but if you play the power of team basketball to the extreme, it will still be very difficult to deal with.
On the offensive end, the Raptors are led by the backcourt double-gun Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr., who are both two-time guards with both passing and scoring ability, especially VanVleet, who played his career best this season, averaging 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. As a draft-induced player, VanVleet has won a big contract and helped the Raptors win the first championship trophy in team history in 2019, and his playing career is obviously quite inspiring. It can be seen that the Raptors' sudden rise this season is not accidental, the 76ers are inferior to their opponents in terms of lineup depth, in order to win this round of the series, Harden must play a performance that matches the value, if he is still tepid, or even always drops the chain in the playoffs as in the past, then the 76ers even if they hate out in the first round, it is not impossible.