PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers turned a seven-point deficit in the second quarter into a 3-point halftime lead against the Toronto Raptors, but the third quarter issues reared their ugly head again in a 121-112 loss on Wednesday night.
The Raptors outscored the Sixers 44-26 in the third feasting on Philadelphia’s turnovers. The Sixers committed eight which led to 15 points for Toronto. The Raptors shot 68.4% from the floor in the third and 5-for-6 from deep which spurred them to this victory.
“Turnovers,” said a somber Tyrese Maxey after the loss. “Defensive breakdowns.”
The Raptors opened the third on a 10-2 run as they took advantage of Philadelphia’s miscues both with the turnovers and there were some foul issues that irked coach Nick Nurse.
“Well, a lot of bad, right? A lot of bad,” Nurse said after the loss. “We started fouling right off the bat there in the bonus at 9:39, or something. Bad start, and then a bunch of turnovers. I think we turned it over three straight possessions and committed three or four straight fouls. Just set the tone for a really bad quarter.”
The Sixers committed 21 turnovers as a whole which led to 31 Raptors points. While the third quarter was the obvious issue, the turnovers were a problem from the jump and that was a talking point after the loss.
“I mean they certainly have some length, right?” Nurse said of the Raptors. “I gotta look at it on tape, but for me, we just weren’t quite spaced where we should have been. We threw it kind of right into some denial lanes that if you move them up higher, they’re probably not denying lanes anymore. If you back cut them out, somebody else come and replace, it’s probably a pretty easy pass. That was most of it.”
There were also plenty of times when the Sixers would begin attacking the paint, but then stop. It was a bit head-scratching to see them just stop their aggressive style of basketball, and that was another thing Nurse pointed out.
“I thought when we drove the ball, we stopped way too early before we got deeper in the paint,” Nurse explained. “That’s kind of like you stop at the elbow and not putting enough pressure on them to make a decision with the big for the dump off or the kick out. We had a few. We should have had more. We were throwing those lobs back, and those are like shot clock killers and potential pick sixes, which is too bad. Again, I didn’t think it was—give them credit because of their length and they got their hands on some balls, but I think we contributed to a lot of it.”
Maxey, who committed three of those turnovers to put a damper on his overall solid night, was upset with himself first and foremost. He is somebody who normally takes good care of the ball, but came up short on this night.
“They were aggressive,” Maxey said. “Took us out our offense. Starting with me. I mean, I think they denied me that some off rip and I got to get open some and help my teammates out.”
The Sixers now board the plane and head to Wisconsin to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.