The 76ers played against the Raptors
In the blink of an eye, the NBA playoffs arrived, and the Philadelphia 76ers welcomed the Challenge of the Toronto Raptors at home. This group duel can be said to be the group closest in ranking and strength among the four groups in the east. The Philadelphia 76ers have a fantastic combination of Harden and Embiid, and when they start to block and dismantle the combination, it is simply an opponent's nightmare, and it is indeed impossible to defend. As for the Toronto Raptors, the thickness of this team's front line, I am afraid that only the fully complete Los Angeles Clippers, can be slightly better.
The first game of the series is particularly important for both teams, especially the Philadelphia 76ers, who are their home stadium after all and cannot afford to lose. The Toronto Raptors welcomed back the full squad, with VanVleet and Anunoby both returning in good health, giving them confidence in the game. If the 76ers want to hold home, then James Harden must come forward.
At one point, he led by 21 points
In order to increase the space on the court and reduce the change of the team's lineup when playing away from home, The Rivers head coach continued to let Danny Green start the game. At the beginning of the first quarter, Danny Green tried 3 three-point shots, unfortunately failed to hit, but Maxi got 10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, Embiid 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Harris also had 7 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, as for Harden, he was still looking for status, 3 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists on 1-of-4 shooting, but the 76ers still got 35 points in a single quarter.
In the face of the 76ers' excellent offense, the Raptors did not panic, although the outside double gun did not open, but Barnes got 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and the team still scored 27 points, only 8 points behind the 76ers. After returning from the second quarter, the Raptors scored five consecutive points to narrow the point difference, Harden responded with a European layup, and after the 76ers returned, they began to continuously open up the point difference. Harden had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in the quarter, Embiid had 8 points and 2 rebounds, and Harris had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
The 76ers scored another 34 points in the second quarter, 21 points ahead of their opponents at one point, while the Raptors only scored 24 points, including VanVleet 6 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists, and Anunoby 7 points and 1 rebound. So, at the end of the half, the Philadelphia 76ers led the Toronto Raptors by as many as 18 points at 69-51.
15 assists and 0 turnovers at halftime
The 76ers played a perfect first half, with 15 assists and not a single turnover. Harden had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, and Embiid also had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, but in the first half of the game, both became green leaves. Maxie shot 6 of 10 from the field, with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, plus or minus +23 for the team first, harris 7 of 11 shooting efficiency, is 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, the team's highest scorer. It has to be said that when Harris and Maxi both broke out, Harden Embiid was happy to become a green leaf.
Facing the perfect team offense of the 76ers, the Raptors seemed to be a bit overwhelmed, Barnes had a team-high 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Anunoby also had 10 points and 3 rebounds, VanVleet had 9 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 2 blocks, and Siakam also had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, but Trent shot 0 of 5 and only relied on free throws to get 3 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block. In fact, the Raptors' performance in the first half was already excellent enough, but it met the unreasonable Philadelphia 76ers, 15 assists and 0 turnovers in the half, and the concentration can be imagined.