The Philadelphia 76ers are in Toronto tonight to take on the Raptors in what could be the team’s biggest game of the year. A loss tonight would tie the Sixers with the Nets for the fifth-worst record in the league and greatly increase their chances of keeping their upcoming draft pick. The Raptors have the easiest schedule remaining this season, so tonight’s game would be huge for both clubs.
Sixers game information
Who: Philadelphia 76ers (22-42) at Toronto Raptors (22-43)
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto ON
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Latest on the Sixers
The Sixers come into their matchup with the Raptors just 2-8 over their last ten games, with wins over the Jazz and Warriors in that time. The team has been destroyed by injuries to every player on the roster at one point or another this season, with key players like Joel Embiid, Jared McCain, and Eric Gordon all lost for the season and Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and Kyle Lowry both missing significant time as well. Yet, they’ve been fighting of late behind the play of some of the newer and younger players on the team.
Quentin Grimes must not have been informed that the team is in a lose-now mode, as he’s been singlehandedly keeping the Sixers in games since coming over in a trade with the Mavericks at the deadline.
Over his last ten games, Grimes has been averaging 19.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists, along with 1.5 steals per game. He’s been doing all of this while shooting 51.4% from the floor and 40.9% on his three-point attempts. To say that Grimes was a steal at the deadline would be an understatement, as he’s shown that he belongs as a big part of the team’s plans.
In addition to Grimes, players like Justin Edwards, Lonnie Walker IV, Jeff Dowtin, Jared Butler, Ricky Council IV, and Adem Bona have all shown growth and contributed to a team that must look to the younger players as they move forward.
The group has an average age of 23.7, with Dowtin and Walker being the elder statesmen at 27 and 26 years old, respectively. For a Sixers team that’s faced so much adversity this season, having so many talented young players who can get real game experience and show what they can do is one of the very few positives that the team can take away from this season.
Latest on the Raptors
The Raptors aren’t playing for the playoffs, and they can spoil the Sixers’ chances at keeping their draft pick just by losing the game tonight. The problem, like the Sixers have with Quentin Grimes, is that no one seems to have told the team that they should be losing games. The Raptors have won four of their last five games, with their only loss coming to the Wizards after rookie Jamal Shead‘s game-winning floater at the buzzer was ruled no good after the refs reviewed the play.
The team is led by RJ Barrett, who’s been averaging 21.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists this year. Scottie Barnes is having just as good of a year with 19.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game, while Immanuel Quickley has chipped in 17.2 points and 5.5 assists per game. The team has a good number of quality young players who are starting to come into their own this season and should get better in the future together.
The problem for the team tonight is that none of those players will see the court, except for perhaps Barnes. The team has a long injury list, and everyone knows why. Despite winning a bunch recently, the team either doesn’t respect the Sixers roster or just doesn’t care to win this game.
What to watch for tonight
The Quentin Grimes show will continue while Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, in addition to the Sixers’ other injured players, will all be out for the game. The Raptors have assembled their lengthy list of players to miss the game, so this one could be one of those games in which you’re not quite sure, short of a very few players, who is on the court.
For the Sixers, losing this game would jump them over the Raptors in the search for a better draft position and is a huge game, on the opposite end of the spectrum from what most fans had thought they’d be battling for at the start of the season. The way this season has turned out for the team, tonight would only be fitting if they would blow out the Raptors and put themselves further away from a better chance to secure their upcoming draft pick.
Grimes could go for 50 points tonight, with Council, Walker, Butler, and Edwards all scoring in double figures against a Raptors squad that looks like a practice squad. If Grimes starts to go off and play like he has been, it’ll be up to head coach Nick Nurse to restrict his minutes and hopefully give the Sixers a real chance to lose this game.
Prediction
Sixers 121 – Raptors 105
