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The second round of the NBA playoffs is taking place in the Eastern Conference. The Toronto Raptors, No. 2, will face the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in a series of powerful East stars.
Interestingly enough, the Raptors and Sixers took identical paths to the second round. On the first day of the playoffs, each team unexpectedly dropped out of Game 1 and then won four straight games without too much trouble. In their fifth game, the Raptors beat the Orlando Magic by 19, while the Sixers took care of the Nets by 22.
But this is not the only similarity between the two teams, who also have a lot to do in this series in terms of future decisions. The Raptors, of course, went all-in to get Kawhi Leonard at the end of the season, and a second-round exit was not what they had in mind when they bought it. . Similarly, the Sixers used their assets to acquire Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris during the season, in hopes of playing in a playoff race.
The series takes off on Saturday
In other words, this playoff game will be new. Here's all you need to know about this second round series.
Toronto Raptors No. 2 vs Philadelphia No. 3 76ers
How to watch the game 1
- Date: Saturday, April 27
- Time: 19h30 (or 20h)
- Location: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- TV channel: TNT
- Live Statistics: To be determined
- Streaming Online: fuboTV (try for free)
- chances: Rapaces -5.5 (Over / Under 223)
TV Lists
All games will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV during the playoffs. Games on TNT and NBA TV can be streamed via fuboTV (try it for free).
Playoff Schedule, Results
All hours of the East
- Game 1 (at TOR): Saturday, April 27 at 19:30 (or 20h) – TV: TNT
- Game 2 (at TOR): Monday, April 29 – TV: TNT
- Game 3 (at PHI): Thursday 2 May TV: ESPN
- Game 4 (at PHI): Sunday May 5th – TV: ABC
- Game 5 * (TOR): Tuesday, May 7th – TV: TNT
- Game 6 * (at PHI): Thursday, May 9 – TV: ESPN
- Game 7 * (TOR): Sunday, May 12 – TV: TNT
*If necessary
Ratings and Analysis
Check out the Sportsline NBA Selection Sheet for all your daily odds.
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storylines
Sixers: The Sixers enter the second round for the second straight time in the playoffs and hope to avoid a repeat of last year, when they were out five times against the Celtics. However, this time, they have Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, whom they exchanged during the season. But they will also face a team of dynamite Raptors led by Kawhi Leonard. There is a lot of pressure on the Sixers now that they are no longer a young and promising team. How this series unfolds could determine what is happening this summer with Butler and Harris, for whom they have spent a lot of assets to acquire.
Raptors: The Raptors are a basic playoff series in the East for years, but they have been eliminated in three consecutive season playoffs by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fortunately for them, "The King" is in Los Angeles now, and they will not have to deal with him at court, nor the psychological effect of facing him. They will however face a very talented Sixers team and will also have a lot of pressure considering their own off-season goals. Last summer, they went all-in to get Kawhi Leonard, and a playoff race might be needed to convince him to stay.
Matchups to watch
1. Joel Embiid vs. His knee: Nowadays, it seems that the only thing that can slow Joel Embiid is his own body. At the moment, he has a knee pain, which hinders him since the break of the match of the stars. The pain resumed again at the end of the season, forcing him to miss several games in the last stretch, and even the third game against the Nets.
When he was on the field in the first round, he was still producing, closing the match with 23 points and 13 rebounds in 20 minutes in the fifth match. But over the series, the intensity, the pressure and the opposite talent, his knee be able to hold? For everyone, especially for Embiid, let's hope the answer is yes.
2. Benches: With two extremely talented starting players, the battle of the benches will be a key element of this series and there is no doubt that the Raptors have the best team.
In order to trade trades for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, the Sixers had to cash in most of their assets, including players in rotation such as Robert Covington, Dario Saric and Landry Shamet. Boban Marjanovic, Mike Scott and James Ennis are now among their main reserves. Meanwhile, the Raptors have a group led by Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell.
If you put these six players in a repêchage, the trio of Raptors would be the first three choices. But the games are not played on paper, and Scott has already hit a winning game this post-season. If Sixers Reservists could simply keep the wire in their minutes, it would be a huge boost to their chances in this series.
3. Leonard vs Simmons: These two teams have not played after the acquisition of Tobias Harris by the Sixers before the expiry of trade, so it is difficult to know exactly what the clashes will be. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that we will have an action of Kawhi Leonard against Ben Simmons.
At the beginning of the season when these two teams met, Leonard absolutely took Simmons' lunch, l & # 39; intimidate in 11 turnovers in a masterful defensive performance. In the other two times, the Sixers met the Raptors with Leonard on the ground, Simmons returned the ball seven times and six times. So if you count at home, Simmons has recorded an average of eight turnovers per game against Leonard. Meanwhile, he scored 13 points on 50% of his shots in those three games, each well below his season average.
But in the only game against the Raptors when Leonard did not play? Simmons scored 26 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in 11 out of 11 shots, and returned the ball just once.
Now, this is not all because of Leonard, but it has turned out to be a problem for Simmons. It's not as big, but it has the length and strength to compete well with the Sixers' pointer. If Leonard can keep Simmons close, it will make life very difficult for the Sixers.
Prediction in series, choice
Raptors in five: The Raptors have won three seasons out of four in regular season between these two teams, but all these matches were played before the Sixers boarded Tobias Harris, which means we did not see them play with every team in their final form.
In their current version, the Sixers have one of the most talented starting lineups in the league, but because of delays in trade and injuries, they did not have much time to play together. This has been obvious in the field because they will sometimes look dominant, but completely incompatible with others.
Even with all the talent of the Sixers, the Raptors still have the best player in the series at Leonard. With their strong defense in mind, their best perimeter shot, their deeper bench and Leonard's ability to close the games, the Raptors have everything they need to qualify for the conference finals.
NBA 2019 series support
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