Raptors should feel good about likely first-round matchup with 76ers

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – It’s hard to fathom, that the team featuring an MVP frontrunner and a former MVP might be Toronto’s most favourable first-round opponent, but maybe it’s not as crazy as it sounds.

If the Philadelphia 76ers end up figuring it out on the fly, with Joel Embiid and James Harden and all of that talent, they could be scary. The Raptors aren’t afraid of them, though, and they showed that again on Thursday.

Having clinched a top-six seed and guaranteed playoff spot a couple nights earlier, they opted to rest Fred VanVleet and his ailing knee. OG Anunoby was still out nursing a bruised thigh. Toronto missed 10 of its first 11 shots, fell behind 17-2 early, and allowed Philadelphia to shoot 19-for-36 from three-point range on the night. Still, in a possible playoff preview between the two teams, and in a game that should have meant more to the visitors, the Raptors came out with the win.

“Heck of a game,” Nick Nurse said after his club’s 119-114 victory. “Great energy in the building, guys that were out there did a good job, got contributions all over the place, and Pascal [Siakam] was awesome.”

Historically, the Raptors have matched up well against Philly. There’s a rivalry there, one that’s been building since Kawhi Leonard’s Shot capped off an iconic seven-game series and sent them home back in 2019. Since then, Toronto has won seven of 11 meetings, including three of four this season, and no team has frustrated Embiid more.

“Toronto is the only team that really just doesn’t allow me to [have the ball in my hands],” the Sixers superstar centre said on a podcast with ESPN’s Zach Lowe last year. “Every single time we play them as soon as the ball is in the air they have three guys