Thad Young Shows Love to Philly Following Game 5 vs. Sixers

The Toronto Raptors finally got on the board with a playoff victory last Saturday during Game 4. After they fell short in three-straight games to open the postseason, the Raptors nearly came and went as one more loss would've sent them home for good.

But the Raptors weren't ready to go out just yet. An eight-point win in Toronto last weekend allowed the Raptors to live to see another day. Just because they picked up a win, though, didn't mean the road would get easier.

This past Monday night, the Raptors had to pay another visit to the Philadelphia 76ers. Knowing that Sixers fans can offer their team a significant home-court advantage, the Raptors emphasized keeping the crowd from becoming a factor in how Toronto played on Monday, according to Raptors veteran Thad Young.

"It’s very important to keep this crowd out of the game," said Young earlier this week. "They can get very loud, this building can get to rocking, and you don’t want that. Us being the team that we are, we’re a very resilient team, and the crowd hasn’t really bothered us too much, but it can get that way sometimes. We don’t want that to happen, so we wanna come out and make sure we give our best punch before they’re able to punch us and control the game."

Fortunately for the Raptors, they could use the crowd in their favor during Game 5. While Philly fans roared at times as the Sixers prepared to make runs, the Raptors always had an answer to prevent Philly from climbing back out of a deficit. Eventually, the struggles from the home team caused the crowd to turn cheers into boos for the 76ers.

The way Sixers fans changed tunes on Monday night might confuse outsiders. But it was nothing out of the ordinary to a guy like Thad Young, who spent the first seven years of his career playing for the 76ers.

"Sometimes, the Philly fans, they’re tough," Young explained. "I think that’s one of the reasons I loved being here for the seven years I was here. They’re a tough crowd, and they’re gonna let you know when you’re doing great. They’re gonna let you know when you’re doing wrong, and they wanna see their guys play hard. This is a blue-collar city, and that’s what they believe in; blue-collar work and making sure you’re bringing your 100 percent maximum effort each and every night." 

Unfortunately for fans in attendance on Monday night, they watched the Sixers struggle on both sides of the ball and walk into a 15-point loss. Now, the Sixers will be the ones competing against a tough crowd as Game 6 will take place in Toronto on Thursday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.