The meme says it all.
After an embarrassing and uncharacteristic loss at the hands of the New York Knicks, the Toronto Raptors stormed past the Philadelphia 76ers 114-103, which in the process ended a five-game skid. Toronto entered the contest with low-spirits (see losses to Golden State and New York) but finally added a long overdue W to the column, doing so without the services of All-Star and leading scorer Kyle Lowry. He was sidelined with a hand abrasion and could miss the next few games.
Tonight’s tilt was surprisingly close and had one too many lead changes against a historically bad 76ers team. Luckily, DeMar DeRozan bailed out the Dinos leading the way with 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 12-24 shooting. Guard Louis Williams chipped in with 21 points to go with five assists and three rebounds.
Toronto has now swept the season series against Philadelphia for the second consecutive year.
Offense: B-
In typical Raptors’ fashion, Toronto cemented a victory owing to free throw and three point shooting. They also scored by association as five players had double-digit scoring, including Patrick Patterson and Terrence Ross. Toronto finished the night 21-24 from the free throw line (87.5%) and 11-27 from downtown (40.7%) versus an undisciplined albeit athletic squad. The 76ers had no solution for DeRozan and Williams who combined for 56 points, almost half of the offensive output generated by the Raptors.
Defense: C+
Never a good sign when your team allows 100+ points to one of the worst scoring outfits in the association (90.1 ppg). I could not name three starters on the 76ers but developed a better understanding of their personnel when I would see the likes of household names Ish Smith, Henry Sims and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scoring easy baskets. Fortunately, the Raptors were bailed out defensively by forcing turnovers against an inefficient offense amassing 16 by night’s end, leading to 19 points. As a whole, the defensive unit held the Sixers to 52.6% shooting.
Rebounding: B
The boxscore suggests an even battle with 36 respectively for both squads. Heck, even the offensive and defensive rebounding was evenly distributed (10 offensive/26 defensive). Not one single player finished in double-digit rebounding and DeRozan led the charge for the Raptors with nine boards. Nerlens Noel had a near double double with 17 points and seven rebounds
Game Ball: DeMar DeRozan
The former USC Trojan did most of his damage from mid range and the charity stripe, a calling card for the sixth-year pro. DeRozan was a key cog in tonight’s victory and we were reminded by his athleticism and craftiness at getting to the line. He will be counted on heavily going forward if Lowry is sidelined for the next few weeks.
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