Sixers head to Toronto in search of their first win

The Philadelphia 76ers are heading to Toronto to take on the Raptors, as both teams suffered season-opening losses. The Sixers, despite still missing Joel Embiid and Paul George, will look to get into the win column against a Raptors team that is young and has some talent but isn’t expected to do much of anything this season.

This looks like the perfect time for the Sixers to get themselves together and improve on their play against a Raptors squad that will also be missing two of their better players.

Sixers game information

Who: Philadelphia 76ers (0-1) at Toronto Raptors (0-1)

When: 7:00 PM EST

Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto ON

Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA League Pass

Latest on the Sixers

The Sixers will remain shorthanded throughout the weekend with Paul George and Joel Embiid both missing at least the next two games. The team should fare much better against the Raptors than they did against the Bucks in their season-opening loss.

If you look at the numbers, having six players score in double digits, getting a double-double from Andre Drummond, and having Caleb Martin and Guerschon Yabusele combine for 22 points and 13 rebounds, it seems like the Sixers had a pretty good night. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 25 points, six rebounds, and three assists but was brutalized a few times without fouls being called on the Bucks.

The team needs to do better from the floor. It’s quite simple. They shot 41.8% from the floor against the Bucks and just 25.8% on their three-point attempts. If they’re going to win games without Embiid and George, the team has to come together. While it was only one game, and the sky wasn’t falling, the team needed to come together with what they had. Playing against a Raptors team that will, more than likely, be at the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference should help them get some quality into their program.

While Tyrese Maxey is the 3rd of the big three the Sixers plan on featuring this season, he started off with a rough game against the Bucks and should be able to bounce back tonight in Toronto. Maxey was 10-31 from the field and just 2-9 on his three-point attempts. After the game, he understood how it affected the team and stressed that it was only the first game and that the players knew what they needed to do better.

A huge part of what the Sixers will be doing, especially over the next few games, will be getting good contributions from Kelly Oubre Jr. and Caleb Martin. Both showed up well in their minutes against the Bucks and should have an easier time tonight as well.

The big boost for the Sixers was the return of Andre Drummond. The man is a walking double-double and had 10 points and 13 rebounds in 25 minutes on the floor. Drummond provides the rebounding and interior scoring that the team loses when Embiid is off the floor and may be the most important piece of the Sixers’ puzzle this year with the expected maintenance of Embiid.

Latest on the Raptors

Oct 23, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) tries to defend during the third quarter at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

The Raptors had a tougher time in their season opener than the Sixers did, as they lost at home to the Cavaliers, 136 – 106. While their numbers from three didn’t look as bad as Philly’s, they shot just about the same from the floor overall, at 41.9%. When Chris Boucher is your leading scorer with 18 points and two rebounds in just 20 minutes on the floor, that doesn’t look good for the team. Jamal Shead and Grady Dick contributed well, adding 10 and 16 points, respectively, but it wasn’t enough against a tough Cleveland team.

Things may be even tougher tonight against a hungry Sixers team as the Raptors look to be without two of their three best players, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, who are both listed as doubtful on the injury report. Barrett has been missing since injuring his shoulder in the preseason opener, and Quickley left the season opener after 14 minutes. He suffered a pelvic injury that initially wasn’t thought to be too bad until he was downgraded to doubtful yesterday.

That will leave Scottie Barnes as the remainder of the Raptors’ top three players. He’ll be going alongside Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick, Jakob Poeltl, and Davion Mitchell and should jump into the starting line with Quickley out. The Raptors have a good young core group of players, but after trading away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby last season, the team looks to be in a rebuilding phase, and their 12th-place finish in the Eastern Conference last season may been a lofty goal for this year.

For tonight…

Oct 23, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) reacts to his three-pointer against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Sixers will look to build on Wednesday night as they adjust to some games without Embiid and George, getting good ball movement, putting Tyrese Maxey in a good position to shoot better quality shots, and working players like Oubre Jr. and Caleb Martin more into the offense.

Admittedly, it was only one game, and the team shot poorly as a whole, but it doesn’t look like coach Nick Nurse will be looking to get rookie guard Jared McCain more minutes than he had in the season opener, but with a smaller and athletic group like the Raptors have, with the number of young players, tonight could be a good game to see how McCain adjusts to the NBA while not having to go against one of the conferences better teams like the Bucks.