Flat and frustrated
Raptors show feistiness against Sixers, but it takes too long to surface
PHILADELPHIA— Fred VanVleet was knocked to the court trying to finish at the rim and then someone from the Philadelphia 76ers inadvertently stepped on him. As VanVleet lay on the court next to the basket, the ball was eventually knocked out of bounds.
An official, not more than three steps from where VanVleet was in obvious pain with teammate Jakob Poeltl standing over him, calmly took the ball and gave it to the Sixers to inbound.
It was only after Delon Wright committed an intentional foul to stop the clock that the Raptors’ medical staff could get a look at the injured guard.
It was stunning, the total disregard the officials had for the player. Raptors coach Dwane Casey was astounded.
“That’s unbelievable, I’ve never seen that,” Casey said after the Raptors dropped a 117-111 decision to the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center. “Then (Philadelphia’s J.J.) Redick turns his ankle, he steps on my guy’s foot (about seven minutes later) and he calls a foul on my guy to stop play so he could go out of the game.
“Consistency in our league is unbelievable. We’ve got to get that under control because one night it’s one thing, the other night is another thing. Don’t get me started. Consistency is the key word.”
The VanVleet injury and the manner in which it was dealt with — team officials said it was a bruise and he will be examined more fully Tuesday — was just one of handful of oddities in a game where To- ronto couldn’t come fully back from a 21-point hole.
Kyle Lowry returned and was rusty in basketball skills but feisty in his own unique way, getting ejected with six seconds left in the game after jawing with Sixer rookie Ben Simmons.
Lowry and Simmons both beat hasty retreats after they were tossed, but no word of any extra confrontation immediately surfaced. “I don’t know,” Lowry said. “I guess he thinks he’s somebody.”
Simmons didn’t elaborate on the incident either, simply saying, “I’m not gonna take s--- from anybody.”
Toss in technical fouls to Casey and Fred VanVleet for arguing calls and DeMar DeRozan for a frustration push on Philadelphia’s T.J. McConnell and it was a difficult day for Raptors emotions.
“We should be feisty, we should come out with a fighter’s mentality,” Casey said.
“Teams challenge you, you’ve got to come out with spirit. I don’t mind that at all, as long as you keep it under control and not lose your focus and not let officiating take us out of what we want to do.”
The Raptors didn’t do very much well all day. They got off to a horrible start, were down 59-49 at halftime and trailed by 21 points with 90 seconds left in the third quarter. They did manage to chip away at the lead and got within a point with three minutes left but could not get any closer.
“We didn’t start the game offensively moving the basketball, not crisply enough,” Casey said. “We were turning down shots and taking tougher shots and that’s just not the way we play. We had zero three-pointers at half.
“I was afraid we were going to come out flat and this team was jacked up. We’ve got to get our motors going no matter who we play, it can’t just be for Cleveland or Golden State. It’s got to be every night and be consistent with that focus and alertness.”
Joel Embiid had 34 points for Philadelphia, and DeRozan 24 to lead Toronto. Lowry went 3-for-16 from the floor in his first game back after missing three with a bruised tailbone.
“I was terrible,” Lowry said. “That’s part of the process; gotta get better.”