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TORONTO – Basketball in the playoffs is a problem-solving exercise. The Philadelphia 76ers entered the second game of their series with the Toronto Raptors with several problems, but none more imposing and urgent than Kawhi Leonard.
After Toronto's 108-95 win in the first game of the series, the Raptors' players and coaches were shocked that the Sixers chose to send some valuable supporters of help to Leonard while He was moving up a gear, navigating the field in turn. Had the tactic had the desired effect of neutralizing other Toronto threats, the Sixers might have lived with Leonard's 45 points. The Raptors' weapons proved to be useful all over the ground, from Pascal Siakam's half-field exploits to Kyle Lowry's surgical management.
On Monday, Philadelphia unveiled a new master plan and set to work diligently to repair its broken defense in a 94-89 victory until the Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Sixers blurred the confrontations, with four of their five starters receiving new assignments. In particular, Ben Simmons drew Leonard.
"Honestly, they did a good job, I have to give them credit," said Leonard. "[Simmons] it's long. "
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In addition to fighting the size of Simmons, Leonard saw several corpses Monday night – sometimes immediately on hold, sometimes when he came out of a screen and almost always when he was approaching of the rim. The coaches of the Sixers gave the defenders the power to help in an unpredictable way, encouraging them to make sensible defensive readings.
For example: If Siakam was parked in a corner, where he shot 42% in the regular season, be careful. But he was above the break, where he converted only 26%? By all means, let him take it.
"I think Ben really did a good job with him, we tried to change the style at times, but we did," said Sixers coach Brett Brown. "Basically, it was Ben's mission, although other people had inherited him if he was replaced or if Ben was no longer in the match."
For all the damage required by Leonard in the first game, the Sixers were also clubbed by Siakam. On Tuesday, Brown transferred Siakam to the center, Joel Embiid, who was given an intravenous infusion for a stomach condition that he shared with scatological joy during his press conference after -match.
Brown was inspired by the comparative exchange between Embiid's comparative success and Giannis Antetokounmpo's defense in recent clashes with the Milwaukee Bucks. Like Antetokounmpo, Siakam is an agile, slender and explosive forward whose long strides propel his dribbling attacks. Forced to face Embiid's size in the second game, Siakam was tempered, missing 16 of his 25 field attempts. Whether he is diverting Siakam or providing traditional services to the big men in the basket area, Embiid has anchored the Philadelphia defense.
"It was my job to slow it down," said Embiid. "We have the impression of following what we had planned."
Throughout the first period, the Sixers defended the half court with precision and urgency. When Lowry sliced through staggered screens, Jimmy Butler (30 points, 11 rebounds, five assists) has pioneered a way through the bodies to rejoin him from the other side. When Leonard swung a dribble, he met a third defender on the paint step. When Embiid or Greg Monroe sank to take a basic pilot, the communication was decisive and the rotations fast.
Philadelphia's stifling defense has resulted in the Raptors in one of the most ineffective halves of offensive basketball in the recent history of the NBA playoffs. During the 20 years in which more advanced statistics were followed, no team had done the following until the Raptors participated in the first half of their loss in the second match:
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Compiled in one half, an effective percentage of field goals under 36
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Collected less than 7% of their offensive rebounds
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Recorded a free throw rate (which measures the effectiveness with which a team accesses the line) of less than 12%
Given that points are scored on the field or on the line and that offensive rebounds are the primary way to get a mulligan on a missed shot, the results have been disastrous for Toronto.
"We are going to watch the film and see where we can improve and see how we can play differently," Lowry said. "You can not have that kind of first half."
The 76ers have evolved for most of the season – the starting unit, the bench units, the home office, the coaching staff, the exacerbated expectations – so it's easy to "get the job done. forget what brought Philadelphia to the post-season last year: a defense based on the idea that a team made up of several giants can wreak havoc in its position clashes.
In the evening, the series with Toronto, the Sixers have exploited their strengths. Embiid and Simmons were put in a position to succeed; Butler, a balloon defense expert, had the opportunity to make a difference with Lowry; Brett Brown, an experimentalist in the soul, assumed healthy risks in an unconventional way. As is often the case in the NBA playoffs, the team that has remained more faithful to its identity has achieved the desired result.
"I tell you, every time we let our defense dictate our attack, we are such a good team," Butler said. "We can not let that be the other way around."
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