The No. 4 Philadelphia 76ers and No. 5 Toronto Raptors will face off in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. The Sixers finished the regular season with a 51-31 record, while the Raptors went 48-34. For what it’s worth, Toronto won the regular-season series over the Sixers, 3-1.
The two teams have met in the postseason twice previously, both times in the conference semifinals. Philadelphia bested Toronto in 2001, while Toronto got some revenge in 2019. Both of those series went the full seven games, so if this year’s series is anything like the previous two, we can expect a battle.
Here’s a look at the game information, storylines and a prediction for the first game of the series.
(4) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) Toronto Raptors
When: Saturday, April 16 | 6 p.m. ETWhere: Wells Fargo Center — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try free)Odds: PHI -4.5 I O/U 216.5 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Featured Game | Philadelphia 76ers vs. Toronto Raptors
Storylines
76ers: The Sixers will be without their best perimeter defender for each away game in the series due to Canada’s restriction guidelines regarding COVID-19. Matisse Thybulle is not fully vaccinated, and thus is unable to travel to Toronto with his teammates. This means he will miss Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary). The obvious question here is how much of an impact will Thybulle’s absence have on the series? We’ll find out the answer to that soon enough, but his absence certainly has the potential to be pretty impactful.
The Raptors have several potent perimeter players, and the Sixers aren’t especially deep when it comes to reliable wing defenders behind…
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