Last week, the Philadelphia 76ers seemed on the verge of taking complete control of their second-round series against the Toronto Raptors.
Brett Brown's team put together perhaps its most complete performance of the entire 2018-19 season in Game 3, beating Toronto 116-95 to take what many believed was a commanding 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. That didn't prove the case, though, as the Raptors, mostly behind the singular brilliance of Kawhi Leonard, won two straight to put the Sixers on the brink of elimination heading into Thursday night.
Philadelphia beat Toronto 116-95 in Game 6, taking an early lead and putting the Raptors away for good in the early portion of a dominant fourth quarter. After the game, Toronto coach Nick Nurse called out his team for what he perceived as a lack of intensity and toughness.
“We didn't play with enough force. We didn't play hard enough. We didn't stand in there. We didn't play with enough physicality,” he said on NBA TV.
Nurse offered a similar sentiment following his team's previous blowout loss to the Sixers, in Game 3.
“I think the first adjustment we’re gonna have to make is we’re gonna have to play a hell of a lot harder, right?” he said, per Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. “And we’re gonna have to play a lot more physical.”
The Raptors answered their coach's call in Game 4, fighting and clawing their way to a crucial 101-96 victory over Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center. Will they respond accordingly in Game 7? Either way, Toronto's physicality, or lack thereof, will clearly go a long way toward deciding which of these teams will meet the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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