CAMDEN, N.J.–The Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors are set to face off in Round 1 of the 2022 NBA playoffs with Game 1 set for Saturday from the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers have the two best players in this series, but the Raptors are a team that will give them trouble.
Led by guys such as Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa, and others, they are a long bunch who fly around and they bother opponents on the defensive end. Toronto is a team that will force a lot of turnovers and they will get out and run. That is something that the Sixers will have to contend with.
The Raptors held James Harden to just 3-for-12 shooting in their last matchup on April 7 and this will be something that he will have to overcome to have success.
“They just fly around,” said Harden on Thursday. “They play extremely hard. They kinda druck up the game. They have a lot of guys who are tall, athletic, long, and they’re solid defenders. They use their length very well and they just run around. They have each other’s back, they scramble, and they fly around defensively.”
For the Sixers to have success on offense against Toronto in this series, they are going to have to move the ball and be able to get easy looks that way. There also cannot be any hesitation from this team on that end. There have been plenty of times where the Sixers just pass up open looks and that has to be an emphasis in this series.
“For us, we gotta make sure we execute,” Harden added. “Make sure we’re crisp with our passing and when the shot’s available, take it.”
Speaking of taking an open shot, that is something that Harden is going to have to start doing. There are plenty of times when he has a catch-and-shoot opportunity and he turns it down. He is still not quite used to having those types of opportunities just yet.
“You gotta put the work in,” he finished. “Yesterday (Wednesday), I stayed and shot a million shots, it felt like, so I haven’t had to do it in a long time, but it’s something that I can do and I’ll have plenty of opportunities out there.”
James Harden getting some shots up after practice today #Sixers pic.twitter.com/Y3i8pI0gZL
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) April 12, 2022
Game 1 between the Sixers and the Raptors is set for 6 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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