Sixers open another playoff series flat, this time against the Raptors in NBA playoffs second round

TORONTO – It was late in the second quarter and the 76ers Ben Simmons scored on a driving finger roll layup and two possessions later scored in a cutting dunk on a backdoor pass from Joel Embiid.

During Saturday opening 108-95 Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena, plays like that were too infrequent for the Sixers.

Their lack of aggression forced them to settle for too many (missed) jumpers.

The Sixers also didn’t take advantage of defensive mismatches.

Several times 6-foot-1 Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry was defending against 6-8 Sixers forward Jimmy Butler.

In a game where Lowry was in foul trouble and would end with five fouls, it would have been the perfect time to repeatedly post up the former Cardinal Dougherty and Villanova standout.

When it was suggested his team showed a lack of aggression, Butler saw it a different way.

“You take what they give you a lot of the time,” said Butler, who shot 4 for 12 and missed his three three-point attempts in scoring 10 points. “They are a team that rotates very heavily. We just missed some shots, that is OK.”

It is?

“I think we are all fine with taking those exact same shots the next game.”

The one Sixer that should settle for jumpers is JJ Redick, and he was 0 for 4 with no points in the first half.

He came out on fire in the third quarter, hitting 5 of 7 threes and kept the Sixers within reach, but eventually it wasn’t enough.

This effort was reminiscent of Game 1 in the Brooklyn series when Simmons was passive offensively, scoring just nine points in a 111-102 loss.

It is no coincidence that Simmons was most aggressive offensively when Kawhi Leonard wasn’t in the game guarding him.

For all the accolades Leonard received for scoring 45 points, and this was a night he showed why he is one of the best players in the world, his defense also was at the level that twice earned him the NBA’s defensive player of the year award.

Even though Simmons stats looked good, 14 points on 7 for 8 shooting and nine rebounds, as the field goal attempts showed, he needed to be looking taking it to the basket more. Simmons also had just three assists, while committing two turnovers.

Another person who has to show more aggression is Embiid.

So much is made of his past struggles against Marc Gasol when the Raptors center played for Memphis. In five games Embiid averaged just 14 points.

Gasol is one player who doesn’t go for Embiid’s pump fakes. The Raptors center is fundamentally sound defensively, moves his feet well and makes it difficult for Embiid to beat him off the dribble.

As well as Leonard played, it was Gasol who had the highest plus-minus for the Raptors, plus 29 in just under 26 minutes.

“I just try to stay in front of him, get physical and contest his shots,” Gasol said.

In the first half, Embiid was mostly successful when Gasol was out of the game and Serge Ibaka was guarding him.

During the second half, Ibaka played 12 minutes and 29 seconds and not only did a solid job on Embiid, but scored all seven of his points in the final two quarters.

After the Sixers lost their first game to the Nets, they became more aggressive and then won the next four.

Yet Embiid understands this is a different situation.

“Obviously the Raptors are way better than the Nets,” Embiid said. “I am sure we will come back, we are down 0-1 and I shot a bad percentage (5 for 18) and I am definitely going to adjust, everybody is going to adjust.”