The 76ers Raptors have made it 3-0 in this series, and the suspense has been lost, and it is said that there is not much analytical value. But there is still some reflective value, why is a series that is widely believed to have to be played such a one-sided result?
Since I started writing the ball review, in addition to this series, there have been two series that were considered to be close to the level before the start of the round, and the actual result was 4-0. One was 18 years when the Pelicans swept the Blazers, and the other was 18 years, when the Cavaliers swept the Raptors. But those two rounds of the series aren't exactly the same as this year's 76ers Raptors. Both the Blazers and the Raptors have serious flaws in the lineup structure, and once they are hit by the opponent, the whole system collapses, plus a little luck tilt, the collapse is also understandable.
This year, the 76ers and the Raptors also have counterpoint restraint. The Raptors center position is a weakness, which is the strongest point of the 76ers, making the Raptors have little flexibility in defense and must be caught. But this set of restraints is quite consistent with the defensive characteristics of the Raptors themselves, even if it is a defensive alignment, the Raptors also like to pinch the attack, so this set of restraints is said not to cause a serious tilt in the strength of the series.
The 76ers have changed a bit, players other than Embiid are more active in this series, the team's defense is harder, and they have caught up with the three games, the three-point shooting rate is 50%, 46.7% and 41.9%, for a team like the Raptors who are crazy to put three points, the opponent's three-point accuracy is so accurate, they are very uncomfortable.
This may still not be the crux of the matter. Since G3 is an overtime game, if the G3 Raptors win, the series is lengthened, and the 76ers gradually average the feel, perhaps the series trend will develop closer to the expected pattern. Even so, the gap in this series is still larger than expected, and the Raptors do have a big problem.
Although it does not have the exaggerated feel of the 76ers, the Raptors' three-point shooting rate in these three games is not bad, shooting 40%, 34.4%, 37.1%, respectively, which is not inaccurate. The Raptors' bigger problem is that they didn't hold the advantages that should have belonged to them, G1 was very bizarre and couldn't make mistakes, rebounds didn't do 76ers, so there was no fast attack and no second offense. G2 managed to rebound and make mistakes, resulting in the 76ers playing a fast-break super-explosive game, and the Raptors did not play a chaotic game. The G3 Raptors lost rebounds again, and the good guys won the fast attack by making a lot of mistakes, which was the only game they won in the chaotic scoring.
In fact, the Raptors only played their ideal basketball in the first quarter of G3, their clamping fierce, fast attack and rapid attack made Embiid very uncomfortable, and the atmosphere at home ignited them to a certain extent, making the series look closer to the expected shape. As a result, the More the Raptors played, the more the 76ers played, the more ways to play, and in the end, it was not difficult to see that the gap between the two sides was a very simple thing:
The 76ers are stronger than the Raptors, it's that simple.
In a sense, intuition is probably more accurate than analysis of the outcome of this series. Or, if you follow your instincts, it's impossible to trust Siakam again. Siakam and VanVleet, as the top two development players, are not enough to support a team through the first round of the playoffs, which seems too simple and crude, but after watching Sika's poor development skills and mid-range shooting in the face of various people, it seems that he has not been wronged.
Playoffs can weaken the strengths of dynamic teams, because it's harder to win in a mess when everyone tries harder to protect rebounds and retreat. But this rule is not absolute, because if a team has the ability to make the opponent focus on other aspects, and can not fully protect the rebound and defense, then the chaotic advantage can continue to hold in the hand.
To put it bluntly, your main attacker must be able to change the defense, if you can neither break through the defense line nor attract the bag, then the opponent can indeed focus on other aspects. This is largely the case for the Raptors and the 76ers series, and relatively speaking, the other three energy teams — the Grizzlies, Timberwolves, and Pelicans — all have higher-rank development players, which are still different from the Raptors.
It is still a meaningful thing to reflect on the series and find those situations that you did not expect, or that you thought wrong.
For the Raptors, a dismal first-round exit is no big deal. They were supposed to rebuild the team and immediately returned to the playoffs after a year of finishing fifth in the division, which is remarkable. Sika and VanVleet as the team's No. 3 and No. 4 figures of the last era, the talent ceiling is there, and it is inevitable that they will not be the number one stars of reconstruction. Just as the previous generation of Raptors achieved a playoff breakthrough after getting Leonard, they have to go further and have to wait a little longer for Barnes.
