Raptors' Fred VanVleet Comments on Joel Embiid's Dominance in Game 2

The Toronto Raptors have spent the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers trying to figure out how to stop Joel

The Toronto Raptors have spent the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers trying to figure out how to stop Joel Embiid. While the Raptors have had success slowing the big man down in the past, Embiid's improvements as a playmaker have made it more difficult for Toronto.

In addition to Embiid's dominance and creativity on the offensive end, the Sixers' star also draws fouls at a high rate, which had caused the Raptors tons of struggles through the first two games of the series.

In Game 1, Embiid had the opportunity to shoot 11 free throws. During the second outing, he shot 14 free throws. After the Raptors fell short to the Sixers for the second-straight game on Monday night, Toronto All-Star Fred VanVleet mentioned they have to "get creative" by finding other ways to slow Embiid down without fouling him.

"We are going to have to find a way to get creative in different ways," said VanVleet. "I thought we did a pretty good job, but at a certain point, we are going to have to stop arguing with the refs and find another solution because they are not budging."

The Raptors have felt shorted by the officiating through the first two games of the series. As they came entered Monday night's game with a clear plan to play physical in an attempt to back the Sixers down, Embiid and Philly countered that.

"I liked our intensity and our physicality, and we showed more bodies, and we seemed to be on the right spots on some of the doubles and things like that," VanVleet continued. "We will have to find ways to get our hands out of there as he is searching for them and maybe clean up the boards a little bit, but he dominated tonight. We didn’t do as good of a job as we did in previous games, so again, looking at the tape, I think we have a day in between, so we will see what we can get better at."

Embiid wrapped up Game 2 with 31 points in 37 minutes. As the Sixers put up 112 points and held the Raptors to just 97, they improved their series lead to 2-0. The Raptors and the Sixers will travel up North now for the next two games.

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