Toronto Raptors Continue Road Trip Tonight Against Philadelphia 76ers

The Toronto Raptors (23-15) continue their road trip tonight traveling to Philadelphia to challenge the last place 76ers (4-34) Thus far in the season, the Raptors have played well against the 76ers going 2-0, however, they have yet to face the Ish Smith-led Sixers.

Tonight the Raptors will be playing a back-to-back, their last game coming last night in Washington D.C. against the Washington Wizards where they won the game 97-88. After being down in the first half the Raptors played great offense and defense in the second half, regaining the lead and not giving it up throughout the rest of the game. This is the third time this season that the Toronto Raptors have defeated the Washington Wizards.

This was the Raptors sixth straight win against the Wizards in the regular season, however, the playoffs are a different story as they are 0-4. The starting backcourt for the Toronto Raptors did an excellent job last night as they combined for a total of 56 points. Kyle Lowry with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while DeMar DeRozan went off for a season-high 35 points on 11-of-24 shooting from the field and eight rebounds.

DeMar DeRozan was creating a great deal of the team’s offense through dribble penetration breakdowns, and in the second half he became pretty much unguardable. It is because of games like this that DeMar DeRozan should be included in the All-Star game this year in Toronto, as he is probably the second or third best shooting guard in the association right now. It will be a shame if he and Lowry aren’t representing the East this year. Other Toronto Raptors who had good games last night were Luis Scola, James Johnson and Bismack Biyombo who had eight rebounds and four blocks off the bench.

As stated earlier, this will be the first time this season the Toronto Raptors will be facing the Ish Smith version of the 76ers. Although the 76ers are still a bad team, after they acquired Ish Smith via trade from the New Orleans Pelicans in early December they have gone 3-4 since, and they’ve only been outscored by 6.4 points per-100 possessions with him on the court. The Raptors should still be favorites to win this game tonight - the last two meeting against the Sixers have both been double digit victories for the Raptors.

This game can be considered a “trap game,” meaning the Raptors cannot play down to the 76ers level because this is the NBA and they are capable of losing tonight on the second night of a back-to-back. However, if the Raptors play good tonight and build a large lead, lets hope Dwane Casey clears his bench and plays guys like Delon Wright, Anthony Bennett, Norman Powell and Bruno so that key starters such as Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan can get some much needed rest. You can catch the game tonight at 7:30pm on TSN.