Did Nick Nurse’s Raptors Take Joel Embiid-Less 76ers Lightly?

Going into Friday night’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Toronto Raptors got word that the Sixers might be shorthanded. On Friday afternoon, the Sixers added their star center Joel Embiid to the injury report. According to Doc Rivers, the veteran’s knee was sore.

Considering Friday’s game was the first matchup of a back-to-back for the Sixers, Embiid’s absence seemed likely. While the Sixers continued to operate as if Embiid was a game-time decision, they made the inevitable call to rule him out 30 minutes before tip-off.

“We came into the game knowing Joel wasn’t gonna play,” said Sixers head coach Doc Rivers. While the Raptors still had to prepare as if Embiid was going to play, they might’ve been relieved to find out the big man was going to have the night off before the game started.

On Wednesday night, the Raptors entered their first matchup against the Sixers with Embiid as the focal point of their defense. As the big man tends to take over in the scoring department for the Sixers, the Raptors zeroed in on the big man and worked to have him kick the ball out whenever he had possession.

Although Embiid scored a game-high of 31 points against Toronto on Wednesday, the Raptors were ultimately successful as they left Scotiabank Arena with a dominant victory.

Knowing they could defeat the Sixers when they have their best player on the floor, did the Raptors take Philly lightly knowing Embiid wouldn’t be available on Friday? Toronto’s head coach Nick Nurse weighed in on the situation after the game.

“I think that maybe the game the other night, we were not handling the success of that game and how well we played the other night well enough,” said Nurse. “Something got us out of sorts. I’d hate to say it was that (not playing Embiid). But, I don’t really know why we weren’t ready to give a little more effort tonight.”

The Raptors’ offensive attack wasn’t as effective on Friday night. After shooting over 50 percent from the field on Wednesday, the Raptors shot just 38 percent from the field on Friday. Granted, Philadelphia’s defense was a lot better — especially in transition — but Toronto felt they did not enter Friday’s game with the same intensity.

“They came out ready to go, ready to try to win and get back on track for their team,” said Scottie Barnes. “They showed it as they were making shots. They played harder than we did. We just started off flat.”

The Sixers clapped back at the Raptors by defeating them 112-90. With that win, the Sixers picked up their second win of the season, advancing to 2-4 on the year. While they still have a ton of work to do moving forward, the Sixers can use Friday’s success as a building block as they work on getting on track.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.