So far this season, the Sixers have been perfect at home (4-0) but hapless on the road (0-3).
And their road competition won’t get any easier when they travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors Tuesday night.
The Raptors stole some headlines this offseason by packaging All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan in a trade to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The bold move appears to be paying off for Toronto, which has started off 6-1 and seen Leonard regain his superstar form.
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The 27-year-old swingman is averaging 26.6 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. He’s also pulling down eight rebounds and displaying the skill set that’s made him a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Paired with Philly native and Villanova alum Kyle Lowry (18.3 points, 11 assists per game), Leonard looks to be a legitimate MVP candidate. Especially if the Raptors keep their current pace.
• Ben Simmons had a monster bounce-back performance vs. the Hawks Monday (see story). He came up just an assist shy of a triple-double while Joel Embiid struggled to score against the constant double teams thrown at him.
Markelle Fultz came on strong in the second half, hitting yet another three and throwing down another vicious dunk.
NBA
The issue for the Sixers continues to be getting Simmons and Fultz to gel on the court. It hasn’t worked out so far and Brett Brown is left with an unenviable task.
“Although it’s early days, I’m aware of the numbers,” Brown said. “You could just keep burying your head in the sand and just keep doing it and doing it — you could do that. I choose to walk that line of trying to grow it and win. That’s part of my challenge.”
It'll be interesting to see how Toronto defends the duo along with Embiid.
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
Where: Scotiabank Arena
Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia+ (Pregame Live starts at 7 p.m. EST)
Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams by NBC Sports app
Roster
Jerryd Bayless, G, 6-3/210, No. 0
Jonah Bolden, F, 6-10, 220, No. 43
Wilson Chandler, F, 6-9/225, No. 22
Robert Covington, F, 6-9/225, No. 33
Joel Embiid, C, 7-0/260, No. 21
Markelle Fultz, G, 6-4/200, No. 20
* Demetrius Jackson, G, 6-1/200, No. 11
Amir Johnson, F/C, 6-9/240, No. 5
Furkan Korkmaz, G/F, 6-7/185, No. 30
T.J. McConnell, G, 6-2/190, No. 12
* Shake Milton, G, 6-6/205, No. 18
Mike Muscala, F/C, 6-11/240, No. 31
JJ Redick, G 6-4/195, No. 17 13
Dario Saric, F, 6-10/250, No. 9
Landry Shamet, G, 6-5/190, No. 23
Ben Simmons, G/F, 6-10/230, No. 25
Zhaire Smith, G, 6-4/200, No. 8
* Two-way player
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