The Toronto Raptors entered Monday evening’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers in a tailspin. The Raptors lost the previous five games and, with a double-digit halftime deficit in Philadelphia, the vibes were not immaculate for Toronto. With that said, the wildest moment of the first half between the division rivals took place in the second quarter with Philadelphia leading 44-31 with fewer than eight minutes remaining before the break.
In short, the two teams combined to make a mockery of a pair of fast break situations, yielding no points on either side.
Sixers and the Raptors with back to back tragic fast breaks pic.twitter.com/e9WST0o9Wt
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 20, 2022
First, Philadelphia simply over-passed in an advantage situation. Shake Milton then flipped up a shot that didn’t draw iron, and that kickstarted what was a favorable possession for Toronto. Pascal Siakam rightly pushed the ball and set up a 2-on-1 fast break for OG Anunoby and Scottie Barnes. In similar fashion to what happened to Philadelphia, the passing wasn’t great and the end result was a lost-ball turnover.
This entire sequence could have been set to “Yakety Sax,” even if there was not any real damage for either team. It’s not as if these teams are incapable of effective transition play either, but the Raptors and Sixers briefly lost the collective ability to function on offense and the results were amusing.
