The Philadelphia 76ers took another tumble on Wednesday night when they fell to the Toronto Raptors 119-109 to begin the 4-game road trip. They have another matchup with the Raptors on Friday to continue the trip so there is a lot to figure out before the contest.
The Sixers were able to get huge games from Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and James Harden as well as De’Anthony Melton off the bench, but the Raptors were able to get hot from deep and they took advantage of Philadelphia’s poor transition defense as well. .
All in all, the Sixers are now 1-4 on the season and this is not the start that most expected when the season began. Philadelphia features some elite talent, but it just hasn’t worked out on the floor to begin the season.
NBA Twitter gave their best reactions after the loss as the Sixers continue to try and figure it out.
The crazy thing about this game was that, for his entire career, this team was Joel Embiid’s kryptonite.
Sixers got an A+ game from Embiid, who saw the floor and all the crazy beautifully. But they’re so bad as a team that it didn’t matter much at all. https://t.co/3YTwwLE1ku
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) October 27, 2022
The Sixers’ transition defense is embarrassing.
— Paul Hudrick (@PaulHudrick) October 27, 2022
I am officially in “rooting for the Sixers to lose until they fire Doc” mode
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 27, 2022
The Sixers’ wretched defensive communication, as poor as it is currently, can be remedied. There are already flashes of what they can be. But the offense should be elite w/this personnel. Instead, it’s often ineffective + stagnant. The schemes are unimaginative. It’s bad.
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) October 27, 2022
the Sixers were so bad on defense that NBC turned off postgame live to run the postgame show from the Phillies’ Game 5 win lmao
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 27, 2022
Through five games, Sixers opponents have added 9.2 points per 100 possessions through transition play (@cleantheglass).
That’s easily the worst in the NBA. Hornets are currently 29th at 6.2.
The bottom transition defense team last season was Houston (4.5).
— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) October 27, 2022
Not seeing too much of the toughness or physicality PJ Tucker was supposed to bring to the #sixers.
— Michael KB (@therealmikekb) October 27, 2022
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