The final box score from the Philadelphia 76ers' 119-109 loss against the Toronto Raptors will help to overshadow a dreary Sixers performance. The Raptors nearly had a wire-to-wire win, dominating the Sixers. One key factor stands alone as the reason why Toronto won so convincingly: the fast break.
One of Doc Rivers' favorite words early in the season has been “pace.” He talks about how the Sixers need to play with more pace all the time. So far, the team has yet to put its money where its coach's mouth is. Against the Raptors, the Sixers followed their trend of not getting out enough in transition and being brutally inefficient when they did. Toronto was just the opposite, leading to a game more lopsided than the final score indicated.
Through five games, Sixers opponents have added 9.2 points per 100 possessions through transition play (@cleantheglass).
That's easily worst in the NBA. Hornets are currently 29th at 6.2.
The bottom transition defense team last season was Houston (4.5).
— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) October 27, 2022
But in addition to their offense, the Sixers lacked even more pep in their step on defense. They let the Raptors get way too many easy looks. Toronto got up a ton of open triples (shooting 16/37 from deep overall on the night) as well as plenty of interior looks as Philadelphia struggled mightily to contain the ball a the point of attack. The Sixers' transition defense was its own problem. Read through the synonyms for the word “bad” in a thesaurus to get a complete understanding of what it was like.
Plays like this one, where the Sixers need to get a stop and allow a wide-open triple in transition, are inexcusable. Joel Embiid at least runs up to prevent a layup but the rest of the team runs upcourt with no urgency or attention, allowing Gary Trent Jr. to fire away without any disruption. Even when Philly has the game within reach late in the fourth quarter, defensive urgency is nowhere to be found.
The effort on this transition defense by the Sixers is woof. pic.twitter.com/hCStn03n90
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) October 27, 2022
The Raptors showed how important energy and making the most of easy opportunities can be, overcoming 31-point efforts from both Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The Sixers already know they have to get their offense going even more but their defense also needs serious attention. They have to play with more pace on that end, too. Said pace will manifest in a different way, of course — flying around screens, quickly running out to cover shooters and running back on defense.
The good news for the Sixers, aside from the seasons still being early, is that they'll get another crack at the Raptors on Friday.
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