Player grades: Pascal Siakam, hot shooting Raptors sink struggling Sixers

Looking to build off their first win of the season, the Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night to begin a 4-game road trip with the first two of the trip taking place against the Toronto Raptors. The Sixers had an opportunity to build and grow against a very tough opponent.

The Raptors proved by they’re such a tough opponent on Wednesday as they used a heavy dose of Pascal Siakam, 3-point shooting, and transition offense in order to come away with a 119-109 win. The Raptors shot 16-for-37 from deep to sink Philadelphia in this one.

Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 31 points and five rebounds while Tyrese Maxey also had 31 points with six assists and five rebounds, and James Harden added 18 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists. De’Anthony Melton hopped off the bench and added 12 points and five assists in support.

Here are the player grades following the loss:

Harden started the game well as he was getting into a groove. He was able to get to the basket and make plays for others while also knocking down his step-back triple. He and Embiid were able to run some very successful two-man plays on the offensive end. After that, his offense wasn’t very aggressive. Defensively, he, like everybody else, struggled on that end as Toronto made it look easy on the offensive end.

Due to the size and length they possess, Toronto normally gives Maxey a little trouble. However, the diminutive guard was able to get to the basket in this one and he did an excellent job of adjusting mid-air and doing what he had to do in order to get the job done. His offense was terrific as he kept Philadelphia alive in the second half, but his defense left much to be desired.

This is one of those games where the Sixers needed more offense out of Harris. While the Raptors were able to get a lot of offense out of multiple sources, Philadelphia could really only rely on Harden, Maxey, and Embiid. He also wasn’t his usual self on the defensive end either so that made everything tough in this one. What saves him from a failing grade is his rebounding.

For some reason, Tucker was playing a little soft on Siakam. Tucker was not getting into his chest early on and that allowed Siakam to get into a rhythm on the offensive end of the floor. He was just walking into easy jumpers and the rest of the Raptors followed suit. He did knock down two corner triples which is what he was brought to Philadelphia to do.

Philadelphia fed the big fella early and he went to work early as he was a consistent source of offense for the Sixers, as he normally is, but it was some tough offense. There were a lot of times when the offense bogged down and he bailed the team out every time. His play on the offensive end kept Philadelphia in the game while the team struggled on the defensive end. He tried lifting this team on his shoulders in the third quarter, but the Raptors proved to be too much.

If it wasn’t for Melton, the Sixers would have been blown out early. He gave Philadelphia a big lift on the offensive end late in the first quarter and leading into the second quarter in order to settle the Sixers down a bit. However, he wasn’t able to fix their poor 3-point defense as the Raptors got whatever they wanted.

Like Melton, Niang entered the game and he provided some offense as he knocked down his first triple. However, he also wasn’t able to fix the team’s struggles in defending the 3-point shot. What he did do a solid job of was defending Siakam in the second half. He bothered the Toronto star into some tough looks.

This was a tough matchup for Harrell. Toronto is such a unique opponent due to their size and length and Harrell couldn’t make much of an impact in this one.

Again, at some point, House Jr. has to provide some offense from the wing position. The Sixers really need somebody to give some consistent 3-point shooting and they were hoping to get it from House Jr. It has been tough sledding through the first five games of the season.

The Sixers turned to Reed in the second half and he, unfortunately, got hit with some reputation calls with fouls. It was a short stint for him before Embiid re-entered for the stretch run.