April 28, 2019
TORONTO — Everybody likes awards. Five Star Review is our way of catering to that, spotlighting key sequences and performances, in-game oddities, puzzling quotes, and everything in between from each Sixers game. This space offers a chance to reflect further on observations from the night before using video, quotes, and good old-fashioned logic.
You should all know how a five-star scale works: a five-star performance is the best of the best, a one-star performance is the worst of the worst. Mistakes take precedent in defeat, excellence takes precedent in a victory. You get the picture and are encouraged to submit your own set of stars in the comment section below.
Today's game: Philadelphia's disheartening Game 1 loss to Toronto
Ben Simmons' work defending Kawhi Leonard
Following the Sixers' Game 1 loss, Simmons ruffled a few feathers when answering a question about the task of defending Leonard, who ripped the Sixers apart in Game 1.
Personally, I think I did a pretty good job overall, Simmons said. "But he's a tough player. He's Kawhi. He's a physical guy. A lot of length, can shoot the ball, so he's a tough guy to match up with."
The thing is, Simmons wasn't wrong, he was basically the only Philadelphia defender who offered any resistance against Leonard, and the numbers suggest they may have to switch his assignment in order to survive in this series.
| Defender | Possessions guarded | Leonard shooting |
| Ben Simmons | 27 | 4/9 |
| Jimmy Butler | 24 | 5/6 |
| Tobias Harris | 14 | 5/5 |
Those numbers feel like a pretty accurate representation of what we saw unfold on the court on Saturday, and they will force the Sixers to reconsider the defensive gameplan for the rest of the series.
It was clear Philadelphia wanted to use Simmons to defend guards to start the series after he had so much success against D'Angelo Russell in round one. He drew the Kyle Lowry assignment early in Game 1, but as the game wore on, the Sixers were looking for any way to slow Leonard down, and sticking their best perimeter defender on Leonard is one way to slow him down.
I'm of two minds after watching how Game 1 unfolded. On the one hand, I thought Brown was quicker than usual to adjust the matchups with Leonard going off, which is a good thing. But the coach wouldn't necessarily commit to a change in approach moving forward, and I think it would be a mistake if they believe their original matchup plan will cut it.
"We had great success in the Brooklyn series with Ben guarding a point guard with his length," Brown said postgame. "To your question could we see him more on Kawhi? Maybe. Maybe some of the others we need to be better and give him help with crowds. You're always smarter in the light of day when you've seen the tape. But our intention was multiple defensive players on Kawhi."
Throwing different looks at Leonard is a defensible approach. But when only one of them works, that's where you have to start.
Jonah Bolden making his case for minutes
It's hard to know for sure if Bolden is ready to be the full-time backup to Joel Embiid in this series. At the very least, Bolden gave his head coach something to think about with a solid, if unspectacular Game 1 in Toronto.
The book on Bolden is that he's capable of making spectacular plays because of his length and athleticism, but he's too overeager and gets baited into silly plays on both ends. Fouls usually pile up in quick succession, and you don't want to start putting Toronto on the line constantly with the abundance of good free-throw shooters they have.
Here's the good news — Bolden was better on the defensive end than I think we've seen him in a while. We saw him play an excellent game against a banged up Toronto team in late December, and there were similar flashes in Game 1, even if they didn't lead to much success for Philly. This is the sort of play we've seen Bolden compound with a silly foul in the past:
Bolden did everything you'd want a defender to do there — crowd the attacker, trust your length to bother him, and stay in position to collect a potential rebound — and it just didn't matter because Pascal Siakam was very, very good in Game 1.
(How poorly did a game go if this is something on the positive side for Philly, by the way? Yeesh.)
Bolden was not good on the offensive end of the floor, but you can see a realistic path for him to get there if he just knocks down some open jumpers. Combine that with his defensive flexibility fitting in much better during this series, and I think you have to try him out as the backup five over Boban Marjanovic in Game 2.
Joel Embiid vs. Marc Gasol
I wrote about this as part of last night's larger story from the arena, and three stars flatters Embiid's night at the office. Let's just pretend this edition of the five-star review has two different two-star awards, because this was a poor performance.
Brown's Game 1 choices
As most of you know, I'm not the guy who tends to yell about Brown's rotations. During the regular season, teams are trying to figure out who they are and what they have, and depending on your view of the game, there will almost always be a player or two on a given team whose role you're confused by.
Here's what I really didn't understand about Brown's decisions on Saturday, though — he is a coach who will nearly always go out of his way to note the importance of defense as reporters bombard him with questions on the best offensive performances on a given night. That being the case, it seems a little strange to me that Furkan Korkmaz would be your first choice wing off of the bench, knowing that if his shot isn't falling his value is basically zero.
Quietly, there was also some bristling from the team's two young stars on how they should approach the Leonard problem.
"I don't think we showed enough help," Simmons said after the game. "I think as a team we have to treat him similar to Giannis [Antetokounmpo], help a little bit more, and try and get the ball out of his hands. Downhill he's one of those guys who can get a bucket easily, and he's a physical guy. So in terms of that, we just got to do a better job.
"Their two best players showed up. I didn’t tonight and I have to do a better job," Embiid said. "I have a lot of respect for those guys. They showed up...Next time maybe just like they are doing to me and double-teaming me. Throw some double-teams and have a better game plan.”
Leonard is not a total black hole, but he's also not a guy who necessarily looks to pass. If the Sixers truly do want to throw different looks at Leonard instead of just having Simmons commit to Toronto's best player, doubling him may be their best bet to slow him down. If you can turn him into a passer first, you may have a chance.
Brown has plenty to think about in the film room before Game 2 tips off. The backup center problem isn't going away, Embid needs help on offense, Leonard will still be an elite player, the bench is what it is. Even with proper adjustments, there's no guarantee the Sixers will be able to overcome Toronto.
Jimmy Butler on both sides of the ball
Butler was the glue holding Philadelphia together in round one, which I feel is worth noting before we move forward. As Butler aptly pointed out at practice on Thursday back in Philadelphia, basketball is a sport where surviving runs is the key to success, and he dismissed the idea the Sixers were playing their best basketball coming out of round one.
"What if we lose the next one, what's the question going to be then?" Butler said late last week. "Are we playing like some shit now? Basketball's a game of runs, stuff happens, I'm not going to sit here and say we're playing our best basketball right now?"
I'll answer Butler's hypothetical for him — yes, he was playing like some shit in Game 1 of the series, and they need him to be better.
Everyone will focus on the Leonard matchup, but Butler was just all over the place on the defensive end even apart from the possessions he spent guarding Toronto's best player. A lockdown individual defender he was not — the Raptors score 19 points on 12 possessions where Butler guarded Pascal Siakam, and Siakam made all four of the shots he attempted with Butler on him.
On his worst possessions, you'd be forgiven for wondering what exactly Butler was thinking. Flailing away at the ball is not going to slow Leonard down, and he made Butler look like a passenger.
After the game, Butler insisted the gameplan remains the same, and he has to force Leonard into tough shots. He did that at times, but his overall discipline wasn't there.
Offensively, I thought he was equally disappointing. Butler actually created a decent amount of separation on drives to the paint, but he could not for the life of him figure out when to pass and when not to. He gave up several open-ish layup attempts to hit someone on the perimeter, and the Sixers simply can't afford him to be overly passive in this series. Playing unselfish is admirable, but Butler reverted into his sometimes mystifying shot habits. Chance to attack the rim? No thanks. A contested three with 18 seconds left on the shot clock? You bet.
It's just one game in a series, but Butler needs to rebound on Monday night.
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