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Post Game Report Card: Raptors beat 76ers, will face Indiana in the first round

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  Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

In a somewhat meaningless game the Toronto Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night in one last regular season show at home before the playoffs. Norman Powell logged close to 40 minutes yet again and led his team with 18 points as every Raptor who played in this game recorded a point and seven Raptors were in double figures. Meanwhile the 76ers were on fire from downtown in the first half and ended the game shooting 15 from 35 for three. Robert Covington led Philly with 24 points and was 6 of 10 from downtown, while knocking down 5 of his first 7 three-pointers. Despite giving the Raptors a little trouble in the first-half the 76ers were not much of a threat. The biggest news on the night was finding out that the Indiana Pacers will be the Raptors’ first-round opponent in this year’s NBA playoffs.

Post Game Report Card:

Offence: A

The Raptors were uncharacteristically soft on the offensive end and chose not to make many attempts to attack the basket. However, that was a good thing as there was no need to risk injury in a meaningless game. Despite that they were still able to put up 122 points outscoring the 76ers 52-36 in points in the paint. The brightest spot on offence for the night had to be the play of rookie Delon Wright who dished out 5 assists in 21 minutes of playing time. Demonstrating a natural ability to facilitate an offence and solid ball-handling skills were certainly key takeaways for the Raptor coaches. Fellow youngster Powell continued to shine as he shot 50% from downtown and showed that he wasn’t afraid to shoot even after misses. Aside from a needless alley-oop pass attempt to Terrence Ross, Powell showed yet again why he could have been the steal of last year’s NBA Draft.

Defence: B+

The effort defensively was lacking in the first half as the Raptors showed little desire to contest many of the 76ers’ jumpshots. While being conservative on the offensive end is justifiable, less determination on the defensive end is not. This being an “evaluation game” where Dwane Casey and his staff were just looking at the strengths and weaknesses of different units, DeMarre Carroll’s communication and heart on defence seemed to be apparent no matter what guys he played with. He had one steal, but as he has shown since his return, he has not lost a step when it comes to 1 on 1 defending as he was a plus 30 in 21 minutes.

Rebounding: A+

The Raptors outrebounded the 76ers 52-32 and limited them to just 6 second-chance points. This is not surprising given the 76ers’ lack of any size on the interior. Jonas Valanciunas grabbed 11 boards, while Carroll had 6 himself, showing yet another dimension he has to his game. This was the one area I can say that the Raptors got the job done for all 48 minutes.

Game Ball: Norman Powell

This game ball has some underlying value. I am not giving it to Norman just for the way he played this game, but rather for taking a “My Player” type path that one would usually see in the NBA 2K series. He was drafted late in the second round and paid his dues in the summer league, training came and finally through numerous games in the D-League. Eventually he got his shot with the big team and did not disappoint. Mr. Powell, I give you this game ball because you put your head down from day one and have not stopped working your butt off since. Thank you for helping us win so many games. Also, he was pretty good tonight too.


All stats in this article are from tsn.ca

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