Nick Nurse Analyzes Raptors’ Defense vs. Joel Embiid, 76ers

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has a reputation for putting together a solid game plan for Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Fortunately for him, Nurse’s team has executed the game plan well many times and made life tough for Embiid from the field.

Monday’s matchup between the Sixers and the Raptors marked the 19th time Embiid faced Toronto. While the big man has had his struggles against the Raptors, his last few scoring performances against Toronto have been quite impressive.

Earlier this year, the Sixers and the Raptors battled it out in late October twice. Playing in just one of the two matchups, Embiid checked in for 38 minutes against Toronto on October 26. The big man drained 71 percent of his shots for 31 points.

Considering the success he had in that first outing, the Raptors had to really execute their game plan in Monday’s rematch. In the eyes of Nurse, how did his team compete on the defensive end?

“I think our defense was really good tonight,” said Nurse. “I think it was executed pretty well. They’re really hard to cover with the amount of matchups that you have problems with, so you’ve got to really work. And then you have to really scheme. And we did a really good job. I thought we had them out of flow and rhythm for almost all of the game.”

In the first quarter of action, the Sixers drained just 32 percent of their shots from the field, hitting on just three of their nine shots from beyond the arc. When the second quarter rolled around, the Sixers improved from the field, hitting on 55 percent of their shots and knocking down 46 percent of their threes.

Offensively, the Raptors had the better showing at the start of the second half, draining nearly 60 percent of their shots and outscoring the Sixers 32-21 to tie the game up going into the fourth quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, Toronto really made the Sixers’ offense work, as Philly shot just 36 percent from the field on 14 shots.

“They made a couple of plays that got tough there,” Nurse continued. “Embiid started getting it there on the elbow and scoring a bit, and we were kind of staying home there for the longest time.”

After a 12-point showing in the first half, Embiid led the Sixers in second-half scoring with 14 points. In order to prevent the big man from taking over, as he’s done a lot lately, Nurse and the Raptors planned to get aggressive, forcing Embiid’s supporting cast to produce.

“We made the decision that we better go get him a little bit,” Nurse explained. “Those guys hadn’t made too many all night. Then they finally made back-to-back shots, which was tough, but we hung in there anyway and got it to overtime.”

Tobias Harris’s efficient shooting in the second half gave the Sixers some much-needed points in the game’s biggest moments. Meanwhile, De’Anthony Melton and James Harden came alive when the Sixers needed them most. It wasn’t a pretty win, but the Sixers will take it from an always-tough Toronto defense in whatever way they can get it.

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