Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pots, you're
Speaker 1: listening to rewind. I'll listen back on press conferences, highlights
Speaker 1: and analysis from the seventy sixers previous game. In a
Speaker 1: game that had the feel of a preseason matchup down
Speaker 1: the stretch in the fourth quarter of the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: come up just short to the Toronto Raptors one twenty
Speaker 1: five to one twenty one. I'm Brian Seltzer. Let's go
Speaker 1: to the zoom line and here from the head coach,
Speaker 1: Brett Brown, let's first, Toronto is the best defensive team
Speaker 1: in the bubble statistically. I think that they're very aggressive.
Speaker 1: I think that they really get into you and force
Speaker 1: you into precious situations as well as any team certainly
Speaker 1: here and I thought that we responded well, not getting
Speaker 1: stood up, not getting bent over. We really tried to
Speaker 1: meet so to fire with fire and played downhill as
Speaker 1: best we could. I thought those two did a great
Speaker 1: job of doing that. It is inevitable that when you
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs it's a similar type of of
Speaker 1: of pressure, that type of sort of harassing team defense
Speaker 1: that Toronto is I think exceptional at I expect us
Speaker 1: to see that against it seems like we're going to
Speaker 1: play Boston. I think Boston does a really good job
Speaker 1: of that as well, and so I think just to
Speaker 1: carry over, you know, is important on what you can
Speaker 1: take from tonight and bring him forward. We'll go to
Speaker 1: Noah Levic. Hey, Brett, we've talked a lot this year
Speaker 1: about Furkhan's defense and that being an important factor with
Speaker 1: him heading into a series against Boston. How do you
Speaker 1: look at that and do you have confidence in him
Speaker 1: to part some of those difficult wings on the Celtics.
Speaker 1: I do. I think he's made great progress this year.
Speaker 1: You know, he understood well and truly that it was
Speaker 1: going to influence clearly how much he was gonna play.
Speaker 1: And because we experienced some different things this year with
Speaker 1: lots of injuries, they opened up a do off for
Speaker 1: him that he took advantage of. He's a great story,
Speaker 1: as we all know, his route to where he was
Speaker 1: to where he is needs to be told. I suspected
Speaker 1: it will, and I think that his defense has improved
Speaker 1: enough where you know, you feel confident he can come
Speaker 1: in and play in an NBA rotation. Thanks, looks like
Speaker 1: Tim has another one for coach Brown. Yeah. Bright, just
Speaker 1: kind of along those lines, like you said, you guys
Speaker 1: aren't going to play Boston now. Now it's a team
Speaker 1: you guys have seen a bunch for over the past
Speaker 1: few years, you know, near yourself, get adjusted to being
Speaker 1: without Ben. But kind of what are your initial thoughts
Speaker 1: on going up against them in the first round of
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I mean, I had got a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for brad Um. It's true, We've had tons of experiences,
Speaker 1: you know, regular season playoffs over the past few years.
Speaker 1: I think the team is very unique in that there
Speaker 1: is just so much firepower ut at several positions, and
Speaker 1: you know, the Philly scort to Celtics rival rivalry is
Speaker 1: is story, it's historic, and so to be able to
Speaker 1: have this opportunity again, we're excited treat this series with
Speaker 1: tremendous respect, but it's certainly one that we're excited to
Speaker 1: want to compete against them. One more seating game to
Speaker 1: go for the seventy six ers on Friday against the
Speaker 1: Houston Rockets after tonight's one twenty one loss to the
Speaker 1: Toronto Raptors, but a game that will have no bearing
Speaker 1: on set seatings. It's that game on Friday, because, as
Speaker 1: you heard Brett Brand allude to in that postgame press
Speaker 1: conference on Zoom, it is going to be the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers as the sixth seed out of the East, playing
Speaker 1: the three seed Boston Celtics in the opening round of
Speaker 1: the playoffs starting next week. Their Atlantic Division rival arch nemesis.
Speaker 1: Another go at it with Boston the postseason two years
Speaker 1: later after that series in two eighteen, and undersized Boston
Speaker 1: team in terms of their actual height, but a very
Speaker 1: talented group with exceptional scoring out of the backcourt and
Speaker 1: on the wings, should be a great test for the Sixers.
Speaker 1: As for tonight's game against the Raptors, here's the way
Speaker 1: that I'm looking at it. There was one part of
Speaker 1: the game where the top available players for both sides played.
Speaker 1: That was in the first half, because we didn't see
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid in the third quarter, and in the first half,
Speaker 1: the Sixers played pretty well all things considered. They did
Speaker 1: have issues with turnovers, specifically for Embiid, but the Sixers
Speaker 1: they led sixty two fifty five of the break. They
Speaker 1: were up by as much as sixteen points in the
Speaker 1: first half, the ball was kind of like popping around
Speaker 1: and moving on offense, Tobias Harris in particular was really
Speaker 1: strong for the first two quarters, and the defense against
Speaker 1: Toronto clampdown held the Raptors to thirty eight and a
Speaker 1: half percent shooting in the first half, seven to twenty
Speaker 1: three from outside the arc, and in particular, Al Horford
Speaker 1: and company did a really good job on Pascal Siakam
Speaker 1: two for nine from the field. Was he scoring only
Speaker 1: four points in the first half. And one thing that
Speaker 1: turned the game around in the second half, namely the
Speaker 1: third quarter, was that with Embat out and Horford only
Speaker 1: playing about two and a half minutes in the third
Speaker 1: quarter was unsurprisingly when those two guys went out, Siakam
Speaker 1: started to get more opportunities in open court transition play.
Speaker 1: Chris Bouche came in and he was it was almost
Speaker 1: kind of like a mini Siakam at times because he
Speaker 1: could block shots with his length defensively and get out
Speaker 1: and run and either score on the run or from
Speaker 1: the perimeter as well. So again, I think the way
Speaker 1: that I'm looking at this one tonight a Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: was back. I mean, that's really your top headline Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid returns the injury is not serious stemming from Sunday's game,
Speaker 1: and you know, he had nine rebounds when he was
Speaker 1: out there in the first half. And again, the Sixers
Speaker 1: played pretty well in the first half. Kyle Lowry had
Speaker 1: success scoring the ball, So that's something as far as
Speaker 1: when you look ahead Sixers nailing down their backcourt defense,
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to tighten up, as Lowry had nineteen
Speaker 1: points in the first half. But I'll take the positive
Speaker 1: outlook on this one and that the seventy Sixers were
Speaker 1: able to do some things with their top players available
Speaker 1: in this one in the first half that were encouraging.
Speaker 1: So that's my take, whether you like it or not.
Speaker 1: Twenty five to one twenty one the final score. It
Speaker 1: was a loss for the seventy six Ers, their third straight.
Speaker 1: They're now three and four in the Bubble and their
Speaker 1: seating game finale is on Friday against the Rockets. Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid negative X rays on his right hand after he
Speaker 1: got hit on the hand in the first half of
Speaker 1: tonight's game. He was scheduled to play limited minutes anyway.
Speaker 1: In his return from a left ankle injury stemming from
Speaker 1: a Sunday's game against the Portland Trailblazers. He played the
Speaker 1: first half and in thirteen and a half minutes, finished
Speaker 1: with five points, one field goal, three for four from
Speaker 1: the line, nine rebounds, and he did have some issues
Speaker 1: with turnovers, committing five of them four the Sixers. But
Speaker 1: the Sixers did outscore Toronto in the first half by
Speaker 1: the score of sixty two to fifty five. The defense
Speaker 1: played well in the first half, the Sixers got more
Speaker 1: and more into their benches the game went along. Tom
Speaker 1: again has called this one tonight. Tom, what was your
Speaker 1: spinning takeaway from this game tonight? Well, in the end,
Speaker 1: it was really a game that featured young players for
Speaker 1: both sides and it ended up being a bit of
Speaker 1: an exciting finish there. But to your point, with Kyle
Speaker 1: Lowry leading the way for the Raptors in the late
Speaker 1: stages of the first half, they got back in the game,
Speaker 1: Lowry scoring eighteen of his nineteen in that second quarter,
Speaker 1: and I thought the Sixers did a good job. Siakam struggled,
Speaker 1: he got into the flow a little bit in the
Speaker 1: third quarter, but for the most part, the Sixers did
Speaker 1: a pretty good job. A little bit concerning like you said,
Speaker 1: with Joel getting back into a rhythm. But again that
Speaker 1: chop on the right hand by gasol On and Bead happened,
Speaker 1: So who's to say whether that didn't play a bit
Speaker 1: of a part on him handling the traps. But they
Speaker 1: came very aggressively on the catch on Ebad with the
Speaker 1: double team and that's something that Toronto has done all
Speaker 1: along and guarding him. So in the end, not the
Speaker 1: biggest deal that the Raptors young players ended up with
Speaker 1: helping them to win the game and then the one
Speaker 1: last game and you want to get ready for the
Speaker 1: start on Monday or Tuesday when those playoffs roll around
Speaker 1: against the Seas, seventy Sixers lose by four two Toronto
Speaker 1: one twenty five to one twenty one. Tobias Harris top
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers with twenty two points. Chris Bouchet
Speaker 1: came in had a great run for the Raptors. He
Speaker 1: and Kyle Lowry sharing team high honors for the Rafts
Speaker 1: with nineteen points apiece. But Tom, I think that when
Speaker 1: you look back on what we've seen from the seating phase,
Speaker 1: there's a handful of seventy sixers who should feel good
Speaker 1: about themselves heading to the playoffs, and certainly now with
Speaker 1: the injury to Ben Simmons, a guy like Al Horford,
Speaker 1: who I think has played well in Orlando deservedly has
Speaker 1: some confidence about him in the six Ers gonna need
Speaker 1: to count on him. But then for someone like a
Speaker 1: Furkon cork Mose who shot the ball really well from
Speaker 1: the outside he was five for nine tonight, or a
Speaker 1: whole Nato who scored seventeen points tonight after tying her
Speaker 1: high with twenty two yesterday, or a Mike Scott the
Speaker 1: last couple of games. I mean, there's guys who, at
Speaker 1: some point the Sixers are probably going to need in
Speaker 1: the playoffs that have some they should have some confidence
Speaker 1: heading into the postseason. Well, you're right, and that's a
Speaker 1: pretty big ala carte menu. But let's start with Netto,
Speaker 1: who wasn't even in the rotation expected to be going
Speaker 1: back two three games ago where Coach Brown said he
Speaker 1: was going to tighten it up and have it being
Speaker 1: a nine person rotation, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: because Simmons gets hurt, Netto gets in there twenty two
Speaker 1: last night and tonight seventeen. As you say, furkon making
Speaker 1: that three point shot tonight, And I thought that was
Speaker 1: a telling question in the zoom interview with coach after
Speaker 1: about Quark Mos and his defense, because he's only going
Speaker 1: to be able to stay out there against Boston if
Speaker 1: there are going to be times w he's matched up
Speaker 1: with Jalen Brown, with Ojul, with Tatum, who knows, I mean,
Speaker 1: and Brad Stevens is so good at recognizing mismatches and
Speaker 1: going at them. So Firkin, you know, the way he's
Speaker 1: going to stay out on the court is obviously shooting
Speaker 1: the ball, but being able to hold his own defensively.
Speaker 1: Then again, Mike Scott, and I think coach already knows
Speaker 1: what he can get from Mike. It's good to see
Speaker 1: that he seems to be back to one hundred percent health.
Speaker 1: Norvelle Pell's going to give you some minutes off the bench,
Speaker 1: But I think it all comes down to the health
Speaker 1: of himbid their ability to guard him. I mean, the
Speaker 1: Sixers took three or four from Boston. They had difficulty
Speaker 1: guarding Jewel Tye as much improved Cantor's very physical off
Speaker 1: the bench, and then again Boston with Brown, So again
Speaker 1: Tatum makes the all Star Team for the first time.
Speaker 1: It emboldens him. He comes out he was maybe the
Speaker 1: hottest player in the NBA after that February All Star
Speaker 1: Game into March, into the hiatus, and Brown didn't make
Speaker 1: the All Star team and that fired him up. And
Speaker 1: then there's Kemball Walker who's had sixty against the Sixers
Speaker 1: in years pass when he was down in Charlotte, he
Speaker 1: obviously was nursing a knee, appears to be back to health.
Speaker 1: And then the heart and soul the Celtics is Marcus
Speaker 1: Smart and he's playing at a very high level. He's
Speaker 1: shooting the ball better, and he just gives them so
Speaker 1: much defensively. So it's a monumental challenge. I think the
Speaker 1: Sixers like the matchup. Obviously, without Simmons, it's going to
Speaker 1: be a big, big, different, you know, scenario for everything
Speaker 1: that Ben brings, specifically the ability to guard one of
Speaker 1: those guys in terms or three of them Heyward two,
Speaker 1: Brown and Tatum and Walker. But it should be interesting,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. I think the fact that the Sectors
Speaker 1: aren't going to get to play here at the Center,
Speaker 1: I mean, it is what it is. We all know
Speaker 1: that at this point. But this thing would start in
Speaker 1: Boston and come back here to Philadelphia for Games three
Speaker 1: and four. That's not the case. It's slated for two weeks.
Speaker 1: It's the NBA Playoff. This thing has worked out incredibly
Speaker 1: down to Fla with the bubble, and the postseason promises
Speaker 1: to be scent the leading as well. Last thing time
Speaker 1: that I'll leave you with the Sixers and Celtics. They've
Speaker 1: played nearly five hundred and sixty times overall between the
Speaker 1: regular season and the postseason, over one hundred times and
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But this time of year, the postseason, I
Speaker 1: think for the seventy Sixers, at least as they exist
Speaker 1: in two nineteen, two twenty, as Brett Brown likes to say,
Speaker 1: this was always going to be their judgment day. They've
Speaker 1: said from the beginning that they've been built for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They've been built for the postseason, and it's starting like
Speaker 1: maybe two and a half months after when perhaps in
Speaker 1: a perfect world that could have ended for the Sixers
Speaker 1: back in June. But it's here, and I think that
Speaker 1: this will ultimately be the judgment time for the Sixers
Speaker 1: after they wrap up seeding play on Friday. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if you see it the same way, well, no doubt,
Speaker 1: and it's just a little bit altered and that you
Speaker 1: don't have one of your best players in Ben Simmons.
Speaker 1: But you know, one of the reasons you acquired Horford
Speaker 1: was this time of the year, and now he's going
Speaker 1: to be that lineup in and hey, he's going up
Speaker 1: against his old team. And I think Horford has played
Speaker 1: really well amongst the best of any player for the
Speaker 1: Sixers during these first seven games of the restart, and
Speaker 1: he made some great passes tonight looking off to the
Speaker 1: week's side to a cunning Harris and he knows Boston
Speaker 1: as well as anybody. I think he's gonna be a
Speaker 1: pivotal figure in this series, without question. And it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a battle royale to be sure. As you say,
Speaker 1: Celtics Sixers postseason, that's a perfect mix. The Sixers are
Speaker 1: big and physical and they're gonna have to do a
Speaker 1: good job against Boston. I mean, really, Stevens is shrewd,
Speaker 1: very good coach. You know, the recent playoff history was
Speaker 1: two years ago when Boston took that thing four out
Speaker 1: of five. And it'll be interesting to see how things
Speaker 1: evolve because the Sixers, you know, they got to go
Speaker 1: in there a little bit with they're the six seed.
Speaker 1: Boston's a little bit of that Philly underdog mentality where
Speaker 1: they're gonna go in there and you know, just play
Speaker 1: as hard and really try to shock the Boston Celtics
Speaker 1: and create a first round upset. And it'll be obviously
Speaker 1: very telling in that first game to see who gets
Speaker 1: the upper hand early on. All right, Tom, thank you
Speaker 1: very much. We will speak again late on Friday for
Speaker 1: that nine o'clock game between the Sixers and the Rockets.
Speaker 1: All right, good night, Bright seventy. Sixers lose to the
Speaker 1: Toronto Raptors tonight, one twenty five to one twenty one.
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid did not play in the second half. He
Speaker 1: was sit on the right hand in the first half.
Speaker 1: X rays were negative. Simply, it was just nice to
Speaker 1: see him back out there on the courts to start
Speaker 1: the game in a starting role after suffering that left
Speaker 1: ankle injury. On Sunday, Sixers did some other good things.
Speaker 1: Their bench made an interesting down the stretch, as did Torontos,
Speaker 1: and with many of the reserves going at it in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, Toronto ultimately pulled out the victory. Here's
Speaker 1: how it went. Joel Embiid was in the starting lineup,
Speaker 1: as was Tobias Harris, Al Horford, Josh Richardson. None of
Speaker 1: them played yesterday in the seventy sixers front end game.
Speaker 1: In the back to back against the Phoenix Suns, Shake
Speaker 1: Milton rounded out the starting five, and the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: enjoyed an encouraging start. Here's a bad bringing it across
Speaker 1: from the Sixers, looks the Horford. Nothing there. They go
Speaker 1: back out top to Tobias high screened by and b
Speaker 1: middle pick and roll. The Bias keeps it, drives it
Speaker 1: off the glass and in he goes right up on
Speaker 1: their center. You gotta love that. Tobias Harris with the basket.
Speaker 1: He's got five. Seventy Sixers enjoyed a really promising start
Speaker 1: in the game. They want our thirteen to three run
Speaker 1: to take control, and later another nine nothing run to
Speaker 1: really put themselves in the driver's seat. After twelve minutes
Speaker 1: of play, the Sixers were in front thirty two to
Speaker 1: twenty five. They also kept Pascal Siakaman check right off
Speaker 1: at the jump. Howell Nato enjoying a nice run in Disney,
Speaker 1: and that continued in tonight's game, Lowery gets it again,
Speaker 1: shoots for three, block by Netto, Joel and b with
Speaker 1: a ball. I had a cork moss work on Weeby
Speaker 1: goes in the corner. Netto had a three, but now
Speaker 1: I boyd the defender shoots for three an in Netto
Speaker 1: feeling it from a night ago as well. Oh, Netto
Speaker 1: now with five listen that made it thirty five to
Speaker 1: twenty nine. And I am admittedly not well versed in
Speaker 1: the book of Neto beyond this season, but I gotta
Speaker 1: think that was one of the best sequences of his career,
Speaker 1: right a block of the Philly guy. Lowry then takes
Speaker 1: it back to the way, knocks down at three. Not
Speaker 1: bad for jul Nato to wind things down in the
Speaker 1: second quarter. Al Horford, he too, is another player who
Speaker 1: should have great confidence going to the postseason, and when
Speaker 1: he was out there tonight, he certainly did his thing.
Speaker 1: Horford with it on the right side, shoots it and
Speaker 1: it's good man. He stuck the landing as al Orford
Speaker 1: with yet another three. He's got nine and the Sixers
Speaker 1: go up by fourteen. Sixers from three seven of fifteen
Speaker 1: and led by as much as sixteen in the first
Speaker 1: half did the Sixers. Their advantage was sixty two to
Speaker 1: fifty five. At the break. Things were going well on offense.
Speaker 1: They moved the ball around and shared it well, and
Speaker 1: they were locking down on Dan and the third quarter
Speaker 1: things started change, namely because Joel Embiid was not out there.
Speaker 1: He was scheduled to play limited minutes to begin with,
Speaker 1: regardless of what happened with his right hand. Al Horford
Speaker 1: only played a couple of minutes of the start as well,
Speaker 1: and then Pascal Acham and Chris Bouche started to get
Speaker 1: going to help give Toronto some momentum. For CONCORKMS was
Speaker 1: trying to do what he could to keep the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers in the league. Norvell Pell hands off the Tobias
Speaker 1: Arras has got twenty point over to cork Mos for
Speaker 1: three nice reach, an extension and the Hierarchy shot is good.
Speaker 1: Now he had lowry one and Kyle's got the four fouls.
Speaker 1: So cork Mos with confidence and he executes. He has
Speaker 1: four threes in the game. He would finish with five
Speaker 1: to seventy sixers. We're up at that point seventy eight
Speaker 1: to seventy five. Norvelle Pell bring it back to a
Speaker 1: one possession game with this deposit. In the final seconds,
Speaker 1: Wool up a high screen by Pell six seconds ago,
Speaker 1: and then he gets Bouchet on a switch in the lane.
Speaker 1: Skits was top, goes to Matise, divaled into the Robell
Speaker 1: and Pell well enoft Hand scores it with point six
Speaker 1: to go. Seventy Sixers down to ninety to eighty eight
Speaker 1: going into the fourth. They got a three point early
Speaker 1: in the fourth from Matis Divle to make it ninety
Speaker 1: one to ninety would go back and forth from there
Speaker 1: between the Sixers and the Raptors. Sixers led by ten
Speaker 1: midway through the frame. Mike Scott was part of the
Speaker 1: push that helped give the seventy Sixers their last double
Speaker 1: digit lead detto to Scott. Here's Mike for three and
Speaker 1: that's good. Mike Scott makes it one oh five ninety nine.
Speaker 1: Man Scott now four oh five with a dozen points
Speaker 1: of the game, one of three double figures scores off
Speaker 1: the bench. Time out Toronto, but the later stretches belong
Speaker 1: to the Toronto Raptors and a man named Stanley Johnson,
Speaker 1: former lottery pick, got some key baskets in crunch time,
Speaker 1: the tying bucket on a layup and the go ahead
Speaker 1: five footer to give the Toronto Raptors what would ultimately
Speaker 1: be a one twenty five to one twenty one victory.
Speaker 1: Seventy Sixers in tonight's game shot forty six and a
Speaker 1: half percent overall. The Raptors shot forty four and a
Speaker 1: half percent from the field. Sixers finished with seventeen three pointers,
Speaker 1: the Raptors with eighteen. They shot a lot better from
Speaker 1: outside the arc in the second half, six or twenty
Speaker 1: six to thirty three from the line, Raptors twenty seven
Speaker 1: of forty. The Sixers and Raptors even on the boards
Speaker 1: at forty seven apiece. The Sixers minus two on the
Speaker 1: offensive glass. Early on in the first half, the Sixers
Speaker 1: were in turnover trouble. If that hadn't been the case,
Speaker 1: who knows how big that lead could have gotten by halftime.
Speaker 1: But all in all, still some really good stuff from
Speaker 1: the Sixers in the first half. They were led in
Speaker 1: scoring by Tobias Harris, who finished with the game high
Speaker 1: twenty two. He was eight of thirteen from the field,
Speaker 1: one of four from outside the arc. He also had
Speaker 1: six rebounds and five assists plus two block shots. He
Speaker 1: was plus ten in just twenty four minutes. Twenty one
Speaker 1: points for fir Concorkmus, who was five for nine from
Speaker 1: the perimeter. Howell Nado with seventeen at night after tying
Speaker 1: a career high twenty two, twelve points for Mike Scott
Speaker 1: and ten apiece for Matise Thibel and Josh Richardson al Horford,
Speaker 1: he finished with nine points, four rebounds, five assists. Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid played thirteen and a half minutes on the first half,
Speaker 1: five points, nine boards for the big man plus five turnovers.
Speaker 1: Toronto was led by Bouche who had nineteen points and
Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry also sharing that team high scoring dis section
Speaker 1: with nineteen of his own as well. Seventy Sixers are
Speaker 1: three and four in the Bubble. They are locked into
Speaker 1: the sixth seed in the East and the Boston Celtics
Speaker 1: are locked into the three seed. That means they meet
Speaker 1: in the first round of the playoffs starting next week,
Speaker 1: but not before the Sixers wrap up seeding play against
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets at nine o'clock, Yes, nine o'clock Friday nights.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to rewind look out for fresh episodes
Speaker 1: the day after every seventy sixers game this season.