The Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers are no strangers to one another, playing intense games in the regular season and playoffs in the recent past. Here, they meet in the first round of the postseason, as the fourth seeded Sixers look to live up to their hype and make a deep run in the playoffs. To do so, they will need to start by getting through the fifth seeded Raptors. In our NBA betting picks for Saturday’s playoff action, we give you our best bet for Raptors vs 76ers from Philadelphia.
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Raptors vs 76ers Game 1 Betting Pick
This game will be played at Wells Fargo Center at 6:00 PM ET on Saturday, April 16, 2022.
Why Bet The Raptors:
✅ Philadelphia comes into this matchup with all of the hype surrounding them, given that they have some legitimate star power in the form of Joel Embiid and James Harden. But the Raptors have won three of their four games against the Sixers outright this season. They are 2-0 against the 76ers in Philadelphia this season, and should be able to keep this game dangerously close once again.
✅ The Toronto Raptors have an elite offensive rebounding team, which should help them contend with Joel Embiid on the glass. They have an offensive rebounding percentage of 32.5%, putting them second only to the Memphis Grizzlies in that category this season. Toronto will be able to create second chances for itself, and will turn those second chances into a close game where they will cover the spread win or lose.
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✅ Philadelphia has been dealing with some chemistry concerns and some issues with closing out games they have led. Ben Simmons is no longer on this roster to serve as a scapegoat, and the nucleus of Embiid, Harden, and Doc Rivers is more responsible than the franchise might like to acknowledge at this point in time.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto greatly exceeded its expectations this season, finishing in fifth place in the Eastern Conference to set up this first round clash with Philadelphia. Toronto was strong defensively this season, especially on the glass, and they were a solid shooting team from the outside. They will need that shooting to come through for them in this series against an explosive 76ers team, as Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. will play a key role for the Raptors in Game 1 and the series as a whole.
For the Raptors, the question coming into this opening game is how they are going to slow down Joel Embiid. Over the last two seasons, Embiid has averaged 26.5 points and 13.2 rebounds per game against the Raptors. Toronto is undersized on the interior, which could cost them dearly against one of the three MVP candidates this season.
Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia underperformed expectations in the standings this year, as they spent the first half of the year dealing with the Ben Simmons drama. Once they traded Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond to get James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers started to look more like the championship contender that they were expected to be. But the Sixers have been far from perfect heading into the playoffs.
When the Sixers offense is operating at a high level, there are not many teams in the NBA that can hang with them. But Philadelphia has struggled to maintain any level of consistency for 48 minutes, giving up big leads and going through stretches where their defense has not been equal to their explosive offense. With the Sixers struggling to find consistent play, one has to wonder if they can do so for long enough to win multiple best of seven series.