Raptors get first win of the season, outlasting the visiting Sixers, 115-107.

Scottie Barnes starred but not without breakout games by Jonathan Mogbo and Jamison Battle

It’s always a special occasion when Nick Nurse and Kyle Lowry are in town! At least for one more evening, Nurse and Lowry were on the court for a Raptors victory!

The Toronto Raptors got its first victory of the season, defeating the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers, 115-107. Scottie Barnes led the way with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. The All-Star shot an efficient 8-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the line. Jakob Poeltl had a strong outing with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while hitting a surprising 9-of-11 from the line.

While strong contributions from the frontcourt should not be a surprise in a Raptors victory, it was the outstanding games from a trio of rookies — Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, and Jamison Battle — that propelled Toronto tonight. Mogbo finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds (team-high 5 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, and was a game-high +21. Shead had 11 points, 5 assists, and most importantly, hounded Tyrese Maxey into a poor shooting night. Battle played less than 15 minutes but finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and several moments that got fans out of their seats.

The Raptors seemingly got a break when the visiting Philadelphia 76ers announced that former MVP, Joel Embiid, and their prized offseason acquisition, Paul George would both miss the game. Unfortunately for Toronto, the Raptors were also without two of their three best players, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, in addition to lottery pick, Ja’Kobe Walter, backup Center, Kelly Olynyk, and trade machine MVP, Bruce Brown.

The theme of the first half was owning the paint. With no Embiid, the Raptors made a concerted effort to get into the lane (on offense) and defend the rim (on defense). The first possessions of the game foreshadowed what would transpire over the next two quarters. Barnes received an outlet pass from Poeltl off a Maxey miss, who finished with 24 points on 6-of-23 shooting. Scottie took the ball the length of the court, dunking in transition like he was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s long-lost, actually-good-at-basketball, brother. On the next possession, Ochai Agbaji, who finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds, generated a steal and quickly pushed the ball to Gradey Dick on the fast break, eventually tipping in Dick’s missed layup attempt.

Toronto’s aggression on offense was relentless. In place of the injured Embiid, Philadelphia’s starting Centre was Andre Drummond, who picked up two fouls in the first three minutes of action. His replacement was Paris Olympics standout, Guerschon Yabusele, who subsequently picked up two quick fouls of his own. With five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Nick Nurse was forced to put 6’6 KJ Martin in the game to play the five.

On the defensive end, ironically, the Raptors were flying around like the Nick Nurse-led units that used to patrol. Jakob Poeltl, Chris Boucher, and Jonathan Mogbo (more on him shortly) each had THREE blocks in the first half. Toronto outrebounded Philadelphia 19-11, getting their hands on every single miss. The Raptors were only credited with 4 steals in the first two quarters, but the activity on the defensive end, deflections generated, and constant fastbreak opportunities (12-2 advantage in transition points) indicated otherwise.

If you watched the game, I apologize for taking this long to get to the highlight of the season (hehe): Mogbo’s coming out party! Mogbo was flying around defensively, at one point, blocking a Maxey three-point attempt(!). On another possession, he flew in out of nowhere to grab the offensive rebound, then feed an open Dick for a triple. Mobgo then jumped the passing lane at the logo and eventually earned a pair of free throws. Speaking of free throws…

Nurse lit a fire under his team at halftime because they came out of the break playing with the resolve of a championship contender. Drummond bullied Poeltl into his third and fourth fouls while also getting a steal and a handful of possession-altering rebounds.

Maxey has been a thorn in the Raptors’ side for a couple of seasons, notably during the 2022 playoffs. While there was no shortage of long-range bombs and off-balance field goal makes, Tyrese was pestered incessantly by Toronto’s dynamic defensive duo of Davion Mitchell and Jamal Shead. On one possession, Maxey was trying to work a dribble handoff with Yabusele when Shead slipped the screen and forced a turnover.

While Philly made its run in the third, Toronto kept the Sixers at bay with defensive stops (5 steals in the quarter) and timely buckets (Barnes, Mogbo, Poeltl, and Agbaji all surpassed double-digits in scoring). Toronto would enter the fourth with an 83-77 lead.

Over the last couple of minutes in the third and first couple of minutes in the fourth, the Raptors trotted out a Barnes + bench lineup that would make the visiting Lowry proud. Scottie was accompanied by a pair of two-way players (DJ Carton and Jamison Battle), a former two-way player (Chris Boucher) and a second-rounder playing his second professional NBA game (Jonathan Mogbo)…..and grew Toronto’s lead!

By the time Battle checked out of the game with his sixth foul, the Raptors held a 98-79 advantage. Jamison played an instrumental role in growing the lead. The last two-way to make the roster grabbed three offensive rebounds, hit a pair of crowd-pleasing threes, and finished 4-of-5 from the floor. He left to a standing ovation.

While Toronto continued answering the Sixers’ runs, no lead is ever safe when Lowry and Nurse are on the other side of the court. Slowly but surely Philadelphia chipped away at the double-digit lead. With Toronto up 107-96 and 1:12 to play, Lowry grifted his way to two free throws. After hitting both freebies, the GROAT deflected a Carton pass in the backcourt that landed in Oubre’s waiting hands. Kelly’s layup quickly narrowed the lead to seven, causing an audible groan throughout Scotiabank Arena.

Shead, who you’d think was in the closing lineup because Quickley was injured and Davion Mitchell and Battle fouled out, was cool under pressure in the final moments. After the Oubre layup, Shead single-handedly broke the Sixers press, splitting a pair of defenders at mid-court, leading to a fastbreak dunk for Poeltl — essentially sealing the game.

Lowry received a standing ovation during a timeout when the Raptors shouted out the franchise’s top-5 assists leaders. He finished the game with 14 points, hitting 3-of-5 from three, and gobbling up 3 steals. Kelly Oubre was the Sixers’ top scorer with 28 points, 3 triples, and 2 steals.

This game broke a record for most free throws in a game — shocking considering Embiid’s absence. Philadelphia took 53 free throws, making 40, while Toronto was 39-of-46 from the charity stripe.

There’s no rest for the weary as the Raptors hop on a flight to Minneapolis to face the Timberwolves on Saturday night. Toronto will not have the luxury of having its opponent’s 2 All-Stars miss the game, so, suffice it to say, Raptors fans should enjoy this victory.