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That's why the Toronto Raptors had Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard was the best player on Saturday night's first game of match 1 against Philadelphia, scoring 45 points on 16 out of 23 shots, getting 11 rebounds and dominating defensively with games like this.
Behind Leonard's game and Toronto starters against Philly starters, the Raptors quickly took the lead and stood firm, and when things went wrong, we played as a team that had been largely together – without add players through season trades – en route to an easy 108-95 win.
So much for this curse of the first match in Toronto. Leonard broke that.
It was a dominance in the critical areas of the game and the series by Toronto. It was not that Leonard, Pascal Siakam had 29 points out of 12 shots out of 15, and both dominated the first quarter, helping Toronto get out of the nervousness of the first game. In the night, Leonard and Siakam shot 28 out of 37 in total.
The other key element – at the top of our "Three Things to See in This Series" preview – was Marc Gasol controlling Joel Embiid. For the game, Embiid shot only 5 of 18 and only reached the free throw line six times. When it is not a force in the Sixers offense, it is not smooth, and it was the case in this game. Toronto did not match Gasol with Embiid throughout the match, Serge Ibaka had time on Embiid and the Sixers did not take the opportunity to hit Embiid in the mail (but they will probably try in Match 2).
Philly had a good attack, but this is not the kind of shooting chart that leads to victory.
J.J. Redick led Philly with 17 points, with no player over 20.
Throughout the game, the Raptors have also taken the lead, especially against the Sixer bench units, to get easy buckets before the defense is ready.
Philadelphia must win the battle of the starting teams to win this series, but to open the first match, it is the Raptors starters who took the lead. Toronto made 14 consecutive shots at one point in the first quarter. Leonard and Siakam combined for 34 points in the first quarter alone, surpassing the Sixers themselves (31). It was more than those two, the Raptors had a real shooting percentage of 77.8% and a zero turnover in the first quarter, with an offensive score of 162. However, the Sixers also scored and he was 39-31 after a goal.
The Sixers narrowed the gap to one point in the second quarter, but Leonard came back in the match and lengthened the lead 62-53 at halftime. Leonard had a career-best total with 27 points in the first half in a playoff game.
It was like that the whole game. Toronto's defense played when it mattered, but Philly's offensive was still an impressive length, she just could not have stops.
If it does not change for Philadelphia, this series will be much shorter than they had imagined. We will see how the Sixers now react to adversity.
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