Doc Rivers, 76ers Seek Revenge vs. Raptors on Friday
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Doc Rivers hopes his 76ers use Wednesday’s loss as a bulletin board material going into Friday’s game against the Raptors.
Anybody could’ve guessed the Toronto Raptors would enter Wednesday night’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers with a chip on their shoulder. After the Sixers ended the Raptors’ playoff run in the first round last year, Toronto got its first shot at revenge this week.
Right out of the gate, the Raptors looked like a team playing for a higher purpose. Within the first quarter of action, they fired off 35 points while draining 54 percent of their shots and nearly 58 percent of their threes.
While the Sixers kept the game within arm’s reach for the rest of the night, it was clear the Raptors weren’t going to let go of their lead as they stayed out in front throughout the first quarter and beyond.
Seeing how the Raptors played Wednesday night didn’t shock Sixers head coach Doc Rivers in the slightest, as he anticipated they would come out with high energy.
“Listen, we knocked them out in the playoffs, right?” said Rivers after the game. “There was no doubt they were going to come out tonight with more.”
The Sixers might’ve expected the Raptors to come out with more energy considering what happened last season, but they weren’t ready to counter on Wednesday.
“We didn’t meet it,” said Rivers. “That’s disappointing.”
A lack of effort certainly contributed to the Sixers’ struggles on the defensive end. After the game, Joel Embiid credited the Raptors for having a solid offensive showing, but he acknowledged the Sixers need to play harder regardless of the situation.
“They made a lot of tough shots,” said Embiid. “We came here for one thing — win the game. Whatever happened in the past, I didn’t think about playing them when we played them last year. Tonight was just about the fifth game of our season, and try to get the win. We didn’t do that, so we gotta go back and try harder.”
A 119-109 loss to the Raptors issued the Sixers their fourth loss of the year in five games. While Wednesday served as a revenge game for the home team, Rivers hopes to see his team enter Friday’s rematch against the Raptors with a little added juice.
“I thought they had far more energy than us tonight, but here’s the good news: Now, we’ll be the one,” Rivers said on Wednesday. “You know? We lost — they kicked our butt, and they were more physical. So, we’ll see how we come out.”
The Sixers and the Raptors will tip off at 7:30 on Friday.
One team will look to pounce on their postseason enemy once more while the other is searching for its second win of the season after a slow start.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.