The Raptors rolled into Philly for a play in positioning and tune up game. Joel seemed eager to play the Raptors, one of his all time favorite opponents but it was Flash Back night and James Harden was the Superstar once more.
The hometown fans pumped up their team to a fast lead that Nick had to throw the old timeout water on to cool them off. It very often seems to work for these Raptors as they came storming out of the short break. The rest of the first quarter was a tight battle as both teams had the energy and will to go head to toe at each other. It was great NBA action!
Then James Harden turned into…well…James Harden of a few years ago! The guy just dominated the second quarter like only a few rare NBA players can when they aren’t over 7’. At first it was a passing display as Harden forced the play and always seemed to find the perfect outlet when the Raptors contained his ‘Old Man’ body. Beside Maxey Harden looks like he’s moving 1/2 speed but those hands and that vision! The guy always was an underrated passer but he relies heavily on it now. Then Harden was D’ing up and stopping drives and finally late in the quarter Harden hit his patented step back 3 pointer and everyone watching knew he was feeling it. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, an all time great getting it done one more time. Unless your a Raptors fan and the team’s down by 20 or something silly like that. 1/2 time couldn’t come soon enough as timeouts weren’t stopping the 76’ers now.
And just like that the Harden of old was gone…replaced by today’s Harden for the 3rd quarter. The guy with a sore Achilles many nights. The Raptors handled the Harden of today quite well actually and clawed their way back into the game very nicely. It took the entire 3rd and 1/2 the 4th but a Freddy 3 pointer put them only 2 points behind midway through the 4th. But Embiid had had a long rest and just entered the game a few mins before. A Raptor come back still felt like a maybe instead of a likely. It turned out to be exactly that as the Raptors couldn’t score a bucket for 3 mins and the game was rescued for the home town fans who certainly would have turned ugly otherwise. Let’s dig into some individual performances now.
The Good
James Harden
Won the game with a simply masterful performance for an entire quarter. The Raptors played him tough but he came up with the answers everytime. His efficiency surprised me more than anything but the high volume shooting Harden of old is long, long gone. This guy is a veteran PG who can lead teams. I wouldn’t gamble a max contract on him this summer but I can see some team doing it.
Scottie
Played better than Harden and anyone else on the floor but did it quietly so many watching didn’t even know he had 29 points, 9 boards, 8 assists and a crazy 4 steals. This is the Rookie of the Year fans were dreaming about at the start of this season. I’m willing to forget all that if he keeps playing like this in the playoffs.
Joel Embiid
The Big Guy pounded it inside and try as hard as the Raptors could to stop him they could only hold him to 25 and 12. I wonder if he’s going to get to the free throw line in the playoffs as much as he does now. I wonder if his conditioning and health will last an entire playoffs with 4 series to win it all. Actually I don’t wonder, I doubt. Not my problem thankfully.
The Bad
Pascal
14 points isn’t enough to win from your Superstar. Pascal wasn’t terrible but he wasn’t good. Couldn’t get inside much all night. Defensively not interested enough.
Jeff
9 mins no shots. Didn’t connect his group and got one long run from Nick but still couldn’t pull it together.
Freddy
19 points but poor efficiency and as many turnovers as assists tonight. An average performance from a team leader simply isn’t good enough to win on the road in the NBA.
So an interesting game with lots of subplots played out giving the home fans what they wanted to see. The Raptors shot 30% from 3 and simply won’t win many games like that. The amazing game from Scottie was wasted as nobody else could step up and get it done at crunch time. The game could end up putting the Raptors in a 2 play in games scenario but that was always the more likely outcome anyway to be honest. The 76’ers look vulnerable and I’d love to match up against them in the playoffs. Everytime someone hits the deck you just have that feeling their entire season could be over. I just don’t think Joel can take the beating the Raptors can dish out in the paint for 7 straight games. It’s highly unlikely anyway these 2 meet so we’ll move on and the Raptors get closer and closer to their destiny.