The Philadelphia 76ers are the league's first team to win series points in the first round of the playoffs this season. However, I thought they would sweep the Toronto Raptors with a big score of 4-0, but I did not expect to encounter a crazy counterattack from the Raptors. In the key G4 battle, although VanVleet had to leave the game early due to injury, Siakam played a godly data performance, playing nearly 44 minutes without overtime, sending a game-high score of 34 points, as well as 8 rebounds and 5 assists of the comprehensive data, playing Embiid and Harden as a background wall.
Perhaps in the eyes of many people, although the Raptors have won back a city, they do not have the opportunity to reverse the score. Embiid's personal ability is obvious to all, Harden also has the league's top ball dealer, and the Raptors can only continue to foul the two superstar players to limit the play of these two superstar players. As Rivers put it: They can also choose not to foul, but can they defend Embiid and Harden? The Philadelphia 76ers felt like a professional amateur team to the Raptors. And this time back to the home of the Philadelphia 76ers, ushering in the G5 battle, what kind of sparks will burst out between the two sides?
In the first half of the competition, the away Raptors showed their never-say-die tenacity. In the first quarter, with the help of Siakam, a 29-27 score was played, and it was not enough to achieve the feat of domination, and after entering the second quarter, it was also possible to take advantage of the embarrassing stage of the Philadelphia 76ers in the scoring drought to play a wave of 25-14 climax, widening the point difference to double digits. Halfway through the game, the away Raptors had a 13-point lead and a growing chance of victory.
Although the Philadelphia 76ers also counterattacked accordingly, the effect was not ideal. In the third quarter of the competition, although the Ma Daha combination was able to play a 25-21 score in succession, it was only to recover the 4 points that were behind in the first half. The gap between the two sides is still 9 points, and the Raptors did not give the Philadelphia 76ers a chance to continue to fight back in the crucial final quarter. Embiid received 5 fouls and did not dare to act rashly, Harden's poor state could not play a big role, and Maxi, who had once played the Wizard, was no longer magical.
No player was able to step up in the decider stage, and the Raptors took advantage of the situation to score 28-22 and won the game with an aggregate score of 103-88. With the Raptors pulling back a city again, the Philadelphia 76ers, although with a 3-2 score, still maintained the initiative, but they were clearly at a disadvantage in momentum. According to NBA statistics, Rivers has had a record of only 3 wins and 11 losses in the series finale since 2015. The data doesn't lie, Lillivers has been pulled by the Raptors twice in a row, and the title of king of reversals is not empty.
Of course, Rivers's command ability in the final battle is revealed, and a large part of the responsibility for the loss is the poor play of the team's superstar players. As we've seen, Harden only delivered 11 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists in this game, but had a bad performance of 5 turnovers. In the comments of the players after the game, NBA celebrity Skip gave this evaluation: Tonight should be hardened must stand out of the game. But when you really need him, he will never show up. Indeed, he did not prove himself when it was time to step forward, and once again chose to be invisible, continuing to be a soft-footed shrimp in the playoffs.