Sixers destroy the Nets and “Elmer Fudd” Jared Dudley to close out their first round series and move on to the highly anticipated matchup against the number two seed Toronto Raptors.
After beginning the game on a 14-0 run, Sixers fans and even the players seemed to know that with the way they were playing and with the way the crowd was reacting, there was no way they were losing this ball game.
The lead then turned to 20-2 and then to close out the first quarter the score was an alarming 32-12, obviously deflating the Brooklyn Nets. Embiid ended the game with twenty three points along with thirteen boards and Simmons finished with thirteen to add the 122 point total. Consequently, no starter played more than twenty seven minutes, again a perfect representation of how quickly this game was over. Now, the Nets are in the rearview mirror and the Process Bus moves up north to Toronto to face the Raptors.
Raptors definitively earned their number two seed as they won nearly 60 games behind the versatile play of Kawhi Leonard along with budding star and likely Most-Improved Player candidate, Pascal Siakam. The Raptors are a handful as they were 3-1 against the Sixers in the regular season. Interestingly however, the closest meeting between the two teams was when the Raptors won by 11 on December 5th. Both of these teams have immense momentum going into these series after both had a flukey game 1 loss.
I have confidence in the Sixers. In the playoffs, it comes down the play of the superstars and the Sixers have 4 of the 5 best players in this series. The determining factor is the play of Embiid and how he handles Marc Gasol, who limited All-Star Nikola Vucevic to 11.2 PPG on 32% shooting in the first round series against the Magic. Although Toronto is dangerous on both sides of the ball and have strong home court advantage, I believe the Sixers’ length and size will be a huge asset against Kawhi Leonard and most especially concerning the matchup between Ben Simmons and a smaller Kyle Lowry.
Sixers in 7. Trust the Process.
Just The Phacts 