By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
After clamping down the defense in road wins over New Orleans and Detroit, the Sixers are back in Philadelphia to face Toronto Wednesday night, looking for their first 3-game winning streak of the season. The Sixers, of course, did not have a 2-game winning streak, let alone a 3-game one, at any point last season, so you would have to go back to January of 2014 for the last time they strung more than 2 W’s together.
To make that happen, Philadelphia will have to take down a Raptors team that has won 9 of its last 10 games, and with a record of 17-7, sits just 1 game back of Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Part of this recent Raptors surge was a 122-95 smackdown of the Sixers in Toronto. In that contest, Kyle Lowry went a perfect 6-6 from behind the arc, as the Raptors shot a sparkling 13-19 from three as a team.
It wasn’t too much of a surprise that Toronto had no trouble scoring in that game, as the Raptors have a league-best 114.9 offensive rating on the season (yes, even ahead of the Warriors). They sport the 4th-best eFG% at 53.4%, buoyed by the fact that they’re shooting 40.1% from three, the best mark in the NBA. Toronto also gets to the free throw line at the 3rd-highest rate (30.3%) in the league, and turns it over less frequently than all but two other teams.
As usual, the starting backcourt of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan has led the way for the Raptors. DeRozan busted out of the gates this season with at least 30 points in 10 of his first 12 games. Though he has understandably cooled down some, he’s still averaging a career-high 27.9 ppg. DeRozan’s 47.4 FG% is his best mark since his rookie year when he was just a bit player, and he’s getting to the line for 9.2 attempts per game, the 6th-highest total in the league. He’s also averaging career-highs in rebounds (5.3) and assists (4.2). DeRozan’s unique mid-range game always makes for a difficult match-up; Gerald Henderson and company will have their hands full.
Meanwhile, Lowry has arguably been ever better, shooting a career-best 43.9% from three on over 7 attempts per night, bolstering a 45.0 FG% that’s easily his best mark in 5 seasons as a high-usage player in Toronto. Lowry has really put in the work to get better and better each year as a shooter, which has further opened up his driving game, and made him more dangerous off the ball when DeRozan or back-up combo guard Cory Joseph has the ball in their hands. Lowry is one of the better stories in the league as far as someone who really worked his way into becoming a star.
For the Sixers, Joel Embiid and Sergio Rodriguez are both expected to play. However, Nerlens Noel will likely be sitting out after spraining his ankle in his season debut Sunday. Jerryd Bayless remains out with his wrist injury, as does Ben Simmons, although the most recent first overall pick took to the court in sneakers Tuesday for the first time since fracturing his foot. Simmons seems on track to return to action in another month or two.
Prior to taking the court Wednesday night, Former Wildcat Kyle Lowry was in attendance for the Villanova-Temple game on Tuesday; he was honored for his gold medal with Team USA.
Former Villanova star Kyle Lowry presented with framed Team USA jersey. pic.twitter.com/7ddyJ3Ymxy
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) December 14, 2016
The Sixers played well last week, but that plaque says it all. The Raptors come in with two Olympians playing the best ball of their careers. Philadelphia will be hard-pressed to make it three straight Wednesday night.
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