Sixers prove too tough for Raptors again, take 2-0 lead in series

TSN Raptors Reporter

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PHILADELPHIA – Nick Nurse didn’t waste time in sending a strong message to the officials ahead of Monday’s Game 2.

“We’ve got to survive some of the physicality out there,” said the Raptors’ head coach, whose pre-game press conference began with a question about adjusting after his team dropped its series opener to Philadelphia, 131-111, on Saturday. “You heard me saying it after the game, we got ran over a bunch when we were legal, which was true. There were several shots to the face, which I don’t understand [why they] were not reviewed.

“I hope they’ve got enough guts to at least stop the game and look at that stuff tonight.”

Toronto didn’t play well in Game 1, certainly not well enough to win, and a little gamesmanship between coaches is hardly unusual at this time of year. But Nurse had a point: the Sixers got away with an awful lot.

However, it was also a message to his team, or at least it would’ve been had he not spent the previous 46 hours or so emphasizing that same message. Philly was extremely physical on Saturday, and while the officials may have allowed them to be a little too physical, the Raptors never came close to matching that physicality.

“I don’t mind physicality,” Nurse continued. “It’s the playoffs and we expect it to be physical. We’ve got to be able to handle that.”

Message received, at least to start. Just 90 seconds into the game, OG Anunoby and Joel Embiid needed to be separated after the two exchanged shoves, and then a few words, while fighting for position on an inbounds play. A couple minutes after that, Pascal Siakam put Embiid on the ground with a hard foul, returning the favour after Embiid spent most of the opener doing the same.

Unlike Game 1,