Throughout the regular season, the Toronto Raptors grew accustomed to overwhelming opponents with size and athleticism. Nick Nurse's team is one of the longest in the league, and with Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam, can count on a pair of overwhelming physical mismatches almost every time it takes the floor. The Philadelphia 76ers, though, aren't most teams, and they showed it on Wednesday night by physically dominating Toronto to an extent that previously seemed impossible.
After Philadelphia beat Toronto 115-96 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Raptors coach Nick Nurse explained what his team will have to do to change the tenor of this series.
“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. And if we don't do that, then the prettiest things that we decide to do offensively aren't gonna matter much.”
Joel Embiid was the best player on the floor on Wednesday, and it wasn't particularly close despite an efficient 33-point outing from Kawhi Leonard. The Sixers superstar had 33 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and five blocks on 18 shots, three made triples, and 12 free throws – in just 28 minutes of play. Marc Gasol, by contrast, had seven points and six rebounds in 29 minutes. Philadelphia was absolutely dominant offensively, put up a 120.8 offensive rating, a 61.4 true shooting percentage, and doled out 29 assists.
Toronto just didn't bring anywhere near enough intensity to Game 3. As Nurse so strongly indicate, the Raptors will have to change that in a big way lest they lose any control over this series whatsoever.
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