Raptors Play Coy With Game Plan for Joel Embiid But Litmus Test Awaits in Philly

The Toronto Raptors will face the near-impossible task of trying to slow Joel Embiid when the team takes on the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday

Aaron Rose | Mar 30, 2023

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Toronto Raptors

It’s clear there’s no love lost between Joel Embiid and the Toronto Raptors. Sure, there’s a respect level, at least from Toronto for the Philadelphia 76ers' superstar center. But for Embiid, the Raptors are a nightmare.

He’s said as much in the past, sometimes complementary of Toronto’s hyper-aggressive defensive schemes. Other times, less so.

“When you play a team like Toronto, they don’t really care,” Embiid told reporters earlier this season following a 76ers’ victory over the Raptors. “It seems like, most of the time, they don’t care about winning. They just want to shut down the other star players.”

The second half of that equation is certainly true. Toronto does have a fixation of slowing Embiid and one that’s historically worked to the team’s advantage. These days, though, the task has become borderline impossible with Embiid playing the best basketball of his career.

So, how exactly are the Raptors going to do it Friday night in another crucial late-season game? Well, Raptors coach Nick Nurse opted to play a little coy when the topic came up following Thursday’s practice.

“I think I go into it pretty much from a straight-up standpoint right now just considering that we could be playing them (in the playoffs),” Nurse said of defending Embiid and James Harden. “Just see how it goes. Go from there. Lots of changes, you know, changes here and there but not like probably a full game plan.”

Yes, Toronto could play the 76ers in the playoffs, potentially even the first-round but right now that seems unlikely, and with the chase for playoff seeding well underway, holding something back for a later date seems unlikely.

The expectation is the Raptors will mix things up with Embiid. The trade deadline addition of Jakob Poeltl gives Toronto a big body it hasn’t really had since Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka left in 2020. Poeltl, therefore, should see plenty of defensive possessions against the fellow 7-footer. But don’t be surprised if O.G. Anunoby finds himself on Embiid as well. Toronto has occasionally opted to go a little undersized against centers to switch more freely in the pick-and-roll.

Figuring out a matchup that can stop Embiid's post-ups and snuff out his two-man game with Harden won't be easy.

“If you put a smaller guy on him, he's gonna take him to a post, if you put a bigger guy on and he's got to take it to the mid part of the floor, top of the key free throw area,” Nurse said of Embiid.

Having options is going to be key for Toronto because regardless of who starts against Embiid, someone else is going to have to take on the matchup too. The Raptors’ aggressive system tends to lead to foul trouble and Embiid is among the league’s very best when it comes to drawing free throws.

“I always say he’s tough because he's also good at drawing fouls,” said Poeltl. “Me, as a big, I have to be really careful about finding that balance between being aggressive and at the same time I don't want to sit down on the bench with three fouls in the first quarter.”

For Poeltl, sometimes that means knowing when to just give up on a play, he said. At some point, it’s just not worth trying to contend a shot if it’s going to cost you a crucial foul and force you onto the bench for extended stretches.

In all likelihood, Toronto isn’t going to see the 76ers again this season following Friday. Philadelphia sits two games back of the Boston Celtics for the second seed in the East and it would require the Raptors to jump the Atlanta Hawks and then win its first play-in game just to earn the seventh seed.

What Friday will show, however, is how close the Raptors are to contending with teams like the 76ers because as long as Embiid is playing the way he’s playing now, the road to a championship in the East is likely to make a pitstop in Philly.

Further Reading