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(4-14) NEW YORK KNICKS, 98 VS. (13-4) TORONTO RAPTORS, 126 SCOTIABANK ARENA WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019

TORONTO RAPTORS QUOTES

NICK NURSE (HEAD COACH)

On the lopsided game … You just want to play the right way, play the way that we want to play and (with) the things that we are working on. It’s an opportunity for them. It was Shamorie’s (Pond) first NBA game, you know, and he got himself a couple of buckets. It’s good, you have to do that stuff sometimes and it is nice to do it in a game like that. I wasn’t expecting that game, that’s for sure. They have been playing everybody tough lately.

On Pascal Siakam starting slow then hitting a bunch of shots … He gets loose. I don’t know, I just think that he is taking pretty good opportunities and they are not all going to go, right? He just keeps seeing them and fires them in there. I think tonight he saw a lot of space and he took it at times and then he jab-stepped, pull backed a few times early. I love it, I think he is ultra aggressive, a lot of catch and shoot threes which I love. Those are easy possessions you don’t have to get pounded on or make three spin moves to get a shot up. It’s nice that he gets to come down and take some of those.

On OG Anunoby’s rebounding … We are trying to work on it. We have been, early in the year our crash rate was really low as far as offensive rebounding and the number of guys that we are sending. I think that we were last in the league actually. Again, so much of it is just trying to piece this thing together with the injuries and all that kind of stuff, but OG is capable. He is in some areas that when shots go up that he can fly in there and use his athleticism to keep some alive and I think a little bit of Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson), Chris (Boucher) and Terence (Davis) activity on the glass has maybe spread a little bit, a little contagious. I think we have had a few more guys on the boards and it has just become a little bit more of who we are and I love it, because it is extra possessions. We certainly want to guard against defensive transition, but we need to be crashing more and being a little riskier to try and get the ball back. I like that this is happening.

PASCAL SIAKAM (31 points, eight rebounds)

What changed at the start of the second quarter after a slow start to the game? I think we just brought more energy to the game and playing harder. I think when you play against teams that the record might look a little, you know, so you don’t come out with the energy and focus like you are supposed to. We all know what we have to do to be able to win, so we came out in the second half, we talked about it at halftime and coming out with more energy and more focus.

On RJ Barrett… I think it’s good and I think it’s always good having the opportunity to be home and coming back and playing. It’s his first year, he’s been playing well and continuing to learn. I think the future is bright for him. He’s got to continue to work hard and I’m sure he was happy to be here and he probably had tons of family here, so it always feels good.

FRED VANVLEET (15 points, four assists) What’s the goal in a game like this when it gets out of hand? Just keep building on our habits. We got a little loose there in the third, they were fighting, they are going to keep scraping. They are a young talented team trying to find themselves, so they kept fighting, but I think we just did enough to pull away, give ourselves some room and the guys off the bench kinda of gave us the rest of the separation we needed to not go back in the game. Just building our habits, I though that we started lackadaisical a little bit, then picked it up a bit at the end of the first, start of the second. That’s all you look for is just try to keep getting better and take these wins as we can get them.

CHRIS BOUCHER (13 points, season-high 12 rebounds) What was the key to tonight’s victory? Coach told us rebounding was going to be key to win this game. We came into this game thinking about defence and we knew that if we had a good defensive game we were able to go with that one. I think everybody came in with a lot of energy and tried to give as much to defensive rebounding as we could.

On having four Canadian players on the floor at same time… We’ve come a long way. Now we get more and more Canadians and it definitely feels good to see all of us on the floor. I think it’s been a long time coming for having a bunch of Canadians in the league.

(

NEW YORK KNICKS QUOTES

DAVID FIZDALE (HEAD COACH)

What did you see in the second quarter? I saw a championship ball club, a team that understands how to shift the game in their favour when things aren’t going right. You don’t accomplish what they’ve accomplished if you don’t understand how to play 48 minutes.

Does Toronto’s defense wear on a team physically as much as it does mentally? Yes, especially when you’ve got that kind of length and speed and athleticism, understanding of what you’re doing. They are a fantastic defensive team. They deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve done. It’s the same selflessness at the other end of the court. They run the floor hard for each other, cut hard for each other and move the ball selflessly. We can learn a lot from this team.

What is the message to the team after this loss? My message to the team is trust. Right now we’re still fighting that fight to trust each other offensively and defensively. First half we saw the ball move in that first quarter without hesitation. We get to the second quarter guys were holding the ball too long. They’ve just got to trust the easy play and trust the pass. Same thing defensively. If you get beat you have to trust that there are guys going to be there for you to protect you and the next guy is going to protect the next guy. That’s just something we haven’t done consistently through a full game. We’re constantly fighting for that trust for 48 minutes.

RJ BARRETT (16 points, five rebounds, four assists)

What is your takeaway of this Toronto team? They’re tough. First unit, second unit, third unit, they all play the same way. They play tough, with grit. Everybody moves the ball, shares the ball, scores. It was great to see and face a team like that.

What did it mean to play in Toronto? It was great. I said I was going to have fun. I tried my best out there. Hopefully I get to play here again many times.

How are you managing the losses? I’m playing basketball. That’s the light that I see. I get to play basketball every day. I come in, I put my hardhat on and do what I can to help the team.

How were your emotions coming into today? I had too many emotions. I was so happy all day. Literally the whole time before the game I was trying to calm myself down for two hours. It was great to be back in Toronto.

JULIUS RANDLE (19 points, eight rebounds)

What did you see change between the first quarter and the second quarter? Offensive rebounds, transition, and they made 21 threes.

Did you feel that this game was going to be a break for the team? We were hoping so. I don’t think we were looking at it in that perspective. We were just trying to win the game. Afterwards, you look at it like that. We were never able to answer the run.

On the Raptors… They play really good basketball. They move the ball, they play fast, share the game. We don’t want to watch it from our end, but we can definitely learn something from them for sure.

On trusting each other… We just got to trust each other, trust the game and play like that consistently for 48 minutes. We do it in spurts, but not for a full game and it hurts us.

FINAL SCORE: TORONTO RAPTORS 126, TORONTO RAPTORS 98

DATE: November 27, 2019 ATTENDANCE: 19,800 (Sellout) Tonight marked Toronto’s 245th consecutive sellout (including playoffs) dating back to Nov. 11, 2014 – the longest streak in franchise history.

FINAL SCORE RECORD HIGH POINTS HIGH REBOUNDS HIGH ASSISTS

New York 98 4-14/ Randle – 19 Randle/Robinson – 8 Three Players – 4

Toronto 126 13-4 /Siakam – 31 Anunoby/Boucher – 12 Davis ll – 5

KEY RUN Trailing 32-21 early in the second quarter, the Raptors went on 22-2 run to lead by nine with 6:28 remaining in the quarter … Toronto extended the lead to 58-46 at halftime and led by double digits the entire second half.

KEY STAT The Raptors shot .512 (21-41) from three-point range … Toronto’s 21 three-point field goals tied the single game franchise record (2X – last: March 10, 2019 at Miami).

RAPTORS NOTES: • With the victory, Toronto improves to 13-4 this season and a perfect 8-0 at home … The Raptors are one of just three teams in the NBA still without a loss at home … Toronto set a franchise record with its eighth straight victory at home to open the season. • The Raptors have now won 15 of their last 16 games against New York, including the last seven meetings … Toronto has won eight in a row vs. the Knicks at home. • Toronto has won an NBA record 33 straight games at home vs. the Atlantic Division … The Raptors last loss at Scotiabank Arena against an Atlantic Division foe was Nov. 10, 2015 vs. New York. • New York shot .375 (33-88) from the floor, including .286 (6-21) in the second quarter … The Raptors held their opponent below 40 percent shooting from the field for the seventh time this season. • Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 31 points (12-22 FG, 5-8 3PT, 2-3) in 30 minutes – his seventh 30-point performance of the season … Siakam tied his career high with five three-point field goals. • OG Anunoby recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. • Chris Boucher posted his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, one shy of his career high, in 25 minutes off the bench. • The Raptors had seven players score double figures – Siakam (31), Fred VanVleet (15), Terence Davis ll (15), Anunoby (13), Boucher (12), Malcolm Miller (13) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (12) … Davis ll scored in double digits for the fourth time in the last five games; he’s averaging 13.4 points during this span … Miller’s 13 points were a career high. • Toronto was missing six players due to injury.

KNICKS NOTES: • With the loss, New York falls to 4-14 on the season and 1-8 on the road … The Knicks have lost four in a row, including three straight on the road. • The Knicks had three players score in double digits – Julius Randle (19), RJ Barrett (16) and Allonzo Trier (10).

HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE

On what he liked about tonight’s win:

I really liked how we started in the game. We came, won the faceoff, went down the ice and spent time down there right from the get-go, which was something we obviously wanted to do. In doing so, with that process, we got the puck to bounce our way a little bit early in the game and we got a hold of it. I didn’t like the second half of the first period, but the nature of the game being what it was – up 3-0, the long break, making the goaltender switch, all that kind of stuff – we didn’t respond well to that. At the start of the second period we went right at them again. We like that.

On improved play with the lead after the game in Colorado:

Two different games, but we did talk about that. We want to be a team that plays with the lead and we need to be able to learn how to play with the lead and be comfortable with the lead. I thought we did a good job of that today.

On if he knew what was going on when Detroit had to make the goaltender switch:

Yeah, the referees were great and talking to us. We had a bit of an indication prior to the game as well that there were some issues there with Bernier. We had a sense of what was going on. Obviously, we had to be patient with it. 

FREDERIK ANDERSEN (25 SAVES)

On the team’s effort tonight:

I thought we played well the whole game. We tried to keep the puck on our sticks as much as possible and I thought we did a hell of a job at that. The guys had the puck the whole second period it felt like and most of the game.

On the team’s three game winning streak:

Well, you see how much the skill shows. I think guys are playing really free and enjoying it a lot and making really good plays. I think the more we can have the puck, the better. Teams get tired out and you saw today we come out hot and score a bunch of goals. I think it’s hard to defend when you have that much skill and move it around that much.

TYSON BARRIE (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On what he liked most about tonight’s game:

That was a start to finish, I think. That was a good game for us. We played our system and had a lot of fun out there. You can see we spent a lot of time in the o-zone and kind of carried that theme throughout the game so that was fun to be a part of.

On his goal tonight:

I kind of shot it and kind of thought it was a brutal shot and I think it caught a stick and went in. That’s a good feeling, for sure.

ANDREAS JOHNSSON (2 GOALS, 1 ASSIST)

On his goals tonight:

For the first, I was just trying to be at the net, didn’t actually see anything and all of sudden the referee comes and pointed at the net. Then I see on the review that I put it in with my skate. The second goal was a nice pass by [Spezza]. He cuts into the middle and holds it and dragged the defence with him and passed to me and I was alone by the goalie and put it in.

On if he tried to not make a kicking motion on his first goal:

I didn’t know it was there. The defenceman came and hooked me up and I was just standing just trying to not fall down. I didn’t even know the puck was by my skate.

On if Nylander helped push the puck in:

He’s telling me he scored the goal but I don’t know if he even touched the puck at all.

WILLIAM NYLANDER (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On what was clicking for his line tonight:

I think we were able to get sustained pressure in the O-zone, shot pucks, got pucks back and just kept going at it. I think that was a big part of our game tonight. I think that was the way for all our lines tonight too, to be dominant.

On crashing the net for Johnsson’s goal:

Yeah, for sure, that was a crazy goal. I think Bernier was kind of out of the crease and we were just trying to push it in there and somehow it ended up in the net.

On who pushed the puck over the line, him or Johnsson:

To be honest, I saw the replay and I think his skate and my stick – the puck is in-between them and we are both pushing the puck in together. So, I don’t know how that goes.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (12-10-4 – 28 Points) vs.

DETROIT RED WINGS (7-17-3 – 17 Points)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Travis Dermott opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs at 1:04 of the first period. Dermott’s goal is the club’s fastest goal to start a game on the road (Previous: 4:37, Kasperi Kapanen – Oct. 16, 2019 at WSH) in 2019-20. He has points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games.
• Tyson Barrie scored Toronto’s second goal of the night at 2:24 of the first period before registering the primary assist on John Tavares’ first period goal. Barrie has goals (3) in three consecutive games and points (3-4-7) in five consecutive games. Per NHL Stats, he is the first defenceman in franchise history to record a goal in three consecutive team games played on the road. Tonight’s game is his fourth multi-point performance of the season and second in two consecutive games.
• John Tavares had the secondary assist on Dermott’s first period goal and later scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the game at 9:48 of the first period. Tavares has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 10 road games this season. He has 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 24 career games against the Red Wings. Tonight’s game is his fifth multi-point performance of the season.
• William Nylander scored the fourth Toronto goal of the night at 1:03 of the second period and later picked up the secondary assist on Andreas Johnsson’s first goal in the second period. Nylander has assists (3) and points (1-3-4) in three consecutive games. Tonight’s game is his fourth multi-point game of the season.
• Andreas Johnsson scored the fifth Maple Leafs goal of the game at 3:34 of the second period before adding the sixth Toronto goal of the night on the power play at 7:07 of the second period. Tonight’s game is Johnsson’s first multi-goal and third multi-point performance of the season. He has now had four career multi-goal games.
• Ilya Mikheyev registered the primary assist on Dermott’s first period goal and later had the secondary assist on Tavares’ first period goal. Mikheyev has five assists over his last four games played. Tonight’s game is his second career multi-assist performance and his second multi-assist performance over Toronto’s last three games.
• Frederik Gauthier recorded the primary assist on Barrie’s first period goal. Gauthier has recorded five points (2-3-5) in 26 games played this season. Three (1-2-3) of his five points have come against Atlantic Division opponents.
• Dmytro Timashov collected the secondary assist on Barrie’s first period goal. Timashov has five points (1-4-5) in 17 games this season. All five of his points have come in seven games against Atlantic Division teams. Toronto is 4-0-0 when Timashov records a point.
• Morgan Rielly registered the primary assist on Nylander’s second period goal and later recorded the primary assist on Johnsson’s second period goal. Tonight’s game is Rielly’s third multi-assist performance of the season and the 26th multi-assist game of his career. He has recorded multiple points on four occasions this season.
• Jason Spezza recorded the primary assist on Johnsson’s second goal in the second period. Spezza has assists (2) in two consecutive games. He has five points (2-3-5) over his last five games played. Five of his six assists have been primary assists.
• Kasperi Kapanen had the secondary assist on Johssson’s second goal in the second period. Kapanen has points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games. He has two assists in two games against the Red Wings this season. He has 11 points (5-6-11) in 13 road games in 2019-20.
• Frederik Andersen stopped 25 shots to earn his first shutout of the season. He was also the last Maple Leaf goaltender to earn a shutout in Detroit on January 25, 2017 (4-0 W).

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

RECORD WHEN…

OF NOTE…

• The Maple Leafs did not go on the penalty kill and went 1-for-1 on the power play tonight.
• Toronto did not take a penalty for the first time in 2019-20. The last time the club had a penalty-free game was March 13, 2019 vs. Chicago (5-4 L).
• According to NHL Stats, the Maple Leafs scored at least six goals in Detroit for 18th time in franchise history and first since March 4, 1994.
• Per NHL Stats, the Maple Leafs’ 42 shots on goal through the first two periods of play marked the fourth time since shots by period was officially tracked (1965-66) that the club had recorded 40 or more shots on goal after 40 minutes of play. (Most Recent: February 3, 1996 vs. Montreal – 4-1 L)
• Cody Ceci and Morgan Rielly were on the ice for a team-high 34 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 tonight. Ceci finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 68 percent (34 for, 16 against), while Rielly finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 77.3 percent (34 for, 10 against).
• Frederik Gauthier won 67 percent (4 won, 2 lost) of his offensive zone draws.
• William Nylander went 4-for-4 (100%) when taking offensive zone faceoffs.

UPCOMING GAMES:

• Friday, November 29, 4:00 p.m. at Buffalo Sabres (TSN4, FAN 590)
• Saturday, November 30, 7:00 p.m. vs. Buffalo Sabres (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
• Tuesday, December 3, 7:00 p.m. at Philadelphia Flyers (TSN4, TSN 1050)
• Wednesday, December 4, 7:00 p.m. vs. Colorado Avalanche (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
• Saturday, December 7, 7:00 p.m. at St. Louis Blues (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)

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TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (11-10-4 – 26 Points) vs.

DETROIT RED WINGS (7-16-3 – 17 Points)

NOVEMBER 27, 2019 ▪ 7:00 PM EST

LITTLE CAESARS ARENA (DETROIT, MI) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus DETROIT

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus DETROIT

MAPLE LEAFS – RED WINGS TEAM STATS

MAPLE LEAFS – RED WINGS NOTES

MAPLE LEAFS MILESTONES vs. RED WINGS

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

MAPLE LEAFS PLAYER NOTES

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

UPCOMING MILESTONES

RECENT MILESTONES

INJURY REPORT

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

RED WINGS NOTES

MAN GAMES LOST (games missed / out since)

Danny DeKeyser – Lower Body (18 / Oct. 23)

Trevor Daley – Lower Body (14 / Nov. 4)

Justin Abdelkader – Upper Body (10 / Nov. 12)

Adam Erne – Hand (7 / Nov. 23)

Mike Green – Upper Body (7 / Nov. 21)

Anthony Mantha – Lower Body (1 / Nov. 24)

Total Man Games Lost: 96

Individual Man Games Lost:

Luke Glendening (11), Jonathan Ericsson (8), Patrik Nemeth (5), Frans Nielsen (4), Givani Smith (3), Andreas Athanasiou (2), Filip Hronek (2), Dennis Cholowski (1), Darren Helm (1)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

11/20 – Recalled C Christoffer Ehn and D Joe Hicketts from Grand Rapids…Placed RW Givani Smith on IR retroactive to 11/14 11/22 – Removed RW Givani Smith from IR and assigned him to Grand Rapids

11/23 – Assigned D Joe Hicketts to Grand Rapids…Removed D Patrik Nemeth from IR

11/24 – Recalled RW Filip Zadina from Grand Rapids…Placed D Mike Green on IR .

RED WINGS vs. MAPLE LEAFS TONIGHT: 671st all-time meeting, 339th in DET…2nd of 4 games this season, 2nd of 2 at LCA

ALL-TIME vs. TOR: 286-284-93-7 / HOME: 175-113-46-4 / LAST 10: 3-6-1 / IN 2018-19: 2-1-1 /

THIS SEASON: 0-1

DET top scorers vs. TOR: Mike Green (5-20-25 in 42 GP), Frans Nielsen (10-8-18 in 40 GP), Dylan Larkin (6-7-13 in 16 GP), Justin Abdelkdaer (5-4-9 in 23 GP), Valtteri Filppula (4-5-9 in 26 GP)

TOR top scorers vs. DET: John Tavares (9-23-32 in 23 GP), Auston Matthews (10-6-16 in 12 GP), Jason Spezza (8-8-16 in 22 GP), Morgan Reilly (4-10-14 in 25 GP), Mitchell Marner (4-5-9 in 13 GP)

FIRSTS: Mike Green scored his 1st NHL goal on 2/3/06 vs. TOR (with WSH)…Darren Helm recorded his 1st career hat trick on 3/29/14 at TOR…Dylan Larkin scored in his NHL debut on 10/9/15 vs. TOR…Filip Hronek had his 1st NHL assist/point on 10/11/18 vs. TOR…Christoffer Ehn had his 1st NHL assist/point (10/11/18 vs. TOR) and goal (12/23/18 at TOR) against TOR.

NOTES: DET G Jonathan Bernier spent 3 seasons in TOR, compiling a 59-68-17 record, 2.81 GAA, 0.915 save percentage and six shutouts in 151 games from 2013-16…Injured DET D Trevor Daley grew up in Toronto, where he played in his 1,000th NHL game on 12/23/18…TOR F Auston Matthews (2013-15) and F Nick Shore (2008-10) are graduates of the U.S. NTDP in Ann Arbor/Plymouth, MI…TOR F Zach Hyman was Dylan Larkin’s linemate at the University of Michigan in 2014-15 and totaled 89 points (35-54-89) in 151 games at the school from 2011-15…TOR F Jason Spezza started his pro career with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins by skating in 3 playoff games in 2001-02…TOR president Brendan Shanahan won three Stanley Cups with DET and amassed 633 points (309-324633) in 716 games from 1996-06…TOR assistant coach Jim Hiller played at Northern Michigan University (1989-92) and for DET (21 games in 1992-93) before serving as an assistant coach for DET in 2014-15.

RECENT RECAPS Nov. 24 vs. CAR – 2-0 L DET’s winless skid extended to 6 (0-4-2) as it was shut out for the 3rd time this season…DET had 1 PP, matching a season low (4 times, MR: 11/14 at LA)…DET’s 19 shots equaled a season low (also 11/10 vs. VGK)…Jimmy Howard stopped 34-of-35 shots for a season-best 0.971 SV%…Filip Zadina made his DET season debut, registering 3 shot attempts in 15:04 TOI in his 10th career NHL game.

Nov. 23 at NJ – 5-1 L Taro Hirose scored for the 2nd time in his last 3 games…Madison Bowey assisted on Hirose’s goal, which gives him the most productive 8-game stretch of his NHL career with 6 points (1-5-6) since Nov. 8…Anthony Mantha exited the game in the 1st period with a lower-body injury…Dylan McIlrath logged his 1st fighting major with DET in a 3rd-period scrap with Wayne Simmonds…Patrik Nemeth returned to the lineup after missing 5 games with an infected cut, logging 23:16 time on ice with 2 hits and 2 blocked shots.

Nov. 21 at CBJ – 5-4 L Robby Fabbri notched his 8th point (3-5-8) in his 7th game with DET…Filip Hronek skated a DET season-high 27:18 TOI…Frans Nielsen skated in his 250th game with DET and recorded his 1st point of the season with an assist.

TURKEY TRADITION Since the Red Wings moved from Olympia to Joe Louis Arena in December 1979, it has hosted a Thanksgiving Eve game in 31 of 37 seasons (including tonight but excluding 3 seasons that were shortened/canceled due to work stoppages).

DET has played on the night prior to Thanksgiving each year since 1991, counting road games on 4 occasions. DET’s record when they host a home game on this night is 19-8-1-2, beginning with the 1980-81 season when a home game on this night became a near annual occasion (DET had only hosted a Thanksgiving Eve game in 3 of the previous 10 seasons prior to that).

EARLY RETURNS With 8 points (3-5-8) in his 1st 9 games with DET, Robby Fabbri has a chance to become one of the team’s most productive trade acquisitions in recent history. Since 1995-96, only 3 players have produced more points in their 1st 10 games (regular-season and playoffs) with DET than Fabbri after being acquired via trade.

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(11-6) PHILADELPHIA 76ERS, 96 VS. (12-4) TORONTO RAPTORS, 101 SCOTIABANK ARENA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019

TORONTO RAPTORS QUOTES

NICK NURSE (HEAD COACH)

On way the team executed in the last 90 seconds … Yes, really good defensively. I thought we really started getting into them and stopped some of that DHO action, we were just beating them to the spot and I think we ended up with eight consecutive stops to end the game. That’s pretty good, especially in a close game in like that.

On how the kids handled the game … I think they did okay. It was too nice to see, I thought OG (Anunoby) had a pretty solid game, he hasn’t played that much against them. We executed our schemes really well obviously on certain players, (Joel) Embiid especially. But yeah, I think Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson), Terence (Davis), Chris (Boucher) all made some plays pretty good. I kind of just liked our composure. I thought all game long even though we didn’t shoot a really good percentage, I thought we were composed on offence and kept getting good shots, decent shots. We never really were panicked, we didn’t seem frustrated at the offensive end and whoever was out there. I think one time I had what we would probably consider four four-men and a centre at one point. Pascal (Siakam), OG, Rondae, Chris and Marc (Gasol) or something weird like that. But that’s okay we keep it simple, we get it to Marc like I said and do some cutting and those guys did a good job.

On the defence against Embiid … The first thing is that we have to guard him. Like, we try to take away his trail 3s, a lot of times he will come down and just be the last one down and they will flip it back to him and we just really tried to take those away and make him bounce it. We tried to stay a little closer to home on him, more than normal. A lot of times you are sending your big to help or rim protect or whatever, but that is kind of why you see a few breakdowns. You have to live with some of that stuff, like to start the half (Ben) Simmons came off the ball screen and went straight downhill a couple of times. That is because we are trying to not let the ball go back to Embiid as much, so we are not providing as much help as we should there. You have to change the scheme and bring somebody else over from the weak side, or whatever. You just keep making adjustments as you go. Just again, try to guard him in the low block, obviously we like to send a couple of bodies, don’t let him get his low post game going. Marc does a great job of fighting him for position. He doesn’t catch to many right under the rim and just turn and use his size and lay it in.

PASCAL SIAKAM (25 points, seven rebounds)

What did you learn from the playoff series, and the matchup with Embiid? Just that I had to work on shooting. I had to be able to shoot the ball, I had to be able to be dangerous, not only going to the basket but on the perimeter. That’s something that I continue to work on every single day, because when they put a big on me, I have to be able to make those shots, so they can come up a little bit and be able to take them off the dribble. That’s on me.

What were guys able to do to them defensively in the last four minutes? Just being physical. Just being physical with them, not giving them easy shots. Obviously making it tough for Embiid to catch it or anything like. They made a lot of threes so we had to make sure we got out on shooters, make them bounce it. So I think that’s what we did at the end there to get the stops that we needed.

What is Marc able to do to get under Embiid’s skin? Marc is a big body, he’s smart, he has being doing it for a while. He kind of understands how to guard, and positioning. Obviously, we’re helping but I think initially, his presence is a problem for a lot of people. When we are connected as a team on defence we can do a lot of things out there.

FRED VANVLEET (24 points, eight assists)

What was the team able to do to hold them scoreless the last four minutes? We just turned up the intensity, they missed a couple but I thought we did a good job at the rim covering for each other. Pascal had a couple of big blocks, Marc was great. OG got in there and Norm (Powell) got some rebounds. Just try and cover for each other, wasn’t perfect all the time but shrinking the paint on those guys is usually good, puts you in good position and then fire out to the shooters. They obviously missed some shots I’m sure they felt that they could make, but I thought we did a good job with our defensive intensity and coming up with the rebounds.

MARC GASOL (three points, six rebounds, nine assists)

What did the team do to hold them scoreless the last four minutes? We moved around and we were in front of the ball. I felt that we did a better job of taking away their drives to the basket and not allowing their size to enter the paint and making multiple efforts.

On team defence against Embiid… They have a few plays that they run for him to allow him to separate from you. I didn’t help much off those plays because it’s set up to allow him to roll and that’s the game plan we had. The coaches did a great job preparing us for the game plan.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS QUOTES

BRETT BROWN (HEAD COACH)

On the final 11 seconds … Well, we got a shot and we had an offensive rebound. There was more time available, maybe, to find something else. I give Toronto’s defence credit.

On the struggles of Joel Embiid tonight … It’s all about him quarterbacking the gym. They double teamed him every single catch and I thought there were times he did a really good job of inviting that, and passing out of it. We shot a lot of threes because they doubled him and that’s what the game produced. I thought we did a pretty good job from time to time of getting off the post, and passing it around and trying to find his floor spots. You give Marc Gasol, a former defensive player of the year, credit, and Toronto credit. But it was a long night for Joel.

At this stage of the season, are there any takeaways you can take from this game? If we are big boys, you’d say of course there has to be. You are going to walk out of here and find something that is going to make us better, and we will do it. At this moment, 10 minutes after the game, it stings. You’ll wake up in the morning; you’ll be wiser for it and learn things that we have to just respond to better. We had a stage where we missed four free throws, they came back and hit a three and it’s kind of like a seven point swing. You would like to have a few of those turnovers back, at the end of the game. That’s where I’m at.

JOEL EMBIID (13 rebounds, two assists)

What does this win say about the Raptors? It says a lot. They are a deep team. They’ve got guys that can do a lot of things on the basketball court. They’re well coached. They did their job and they made sure to stick with the plan they had, especially taking me out of the game. That’s also on me to try and figure out and take advantage of it. Defensively they are everywhere. They are so long and they make sure to pack the paint, and tonight we didn’t make shots. When you’re not making shots and you play against a team like that, it’s really hard. We still came pretty close, but we have to get better, especially me.

Were you fatigued, playing the fourth game in six nights? I didn’t look fatigued and I was definitely not fatigued. Obviously, the defensive scheme … they were trying to make sure I didn’t touch the ball, and that forced me into a lot of tough shots. It didn’t matter … Marc didn’t help on the picks I was setting and on the post, obviously, they were doubling from the time the ball was in the air. When you’re not making shots, it’s tough, but I tried to take advantage of it by setting screens and holding it until my teammates got open.

TOBIAS HARRIS (18 points, five rebounds, two assists)

On the team’s mental lapses … Yeah, definitely too many of them. The last three minutes, too many to count, so that’s the most disappointing thing about tonight’s loss, for sure.

What did you learn about this team today? I mean, we have to be better. (In) the late fourth quarter we have to be better engaged offensively and defensively — executing on both ends of the floor.

Did this feel more like a playoff game? Honestly, all the games feel the same. We are out there to win. Obviously, it was loud in there and whatnot, so I guess that may be where you’re getting that from, but for us it was a game that we wanted to win.

BEN SIMMONS (10 points, 14 assists, nine rebounds)

On the second quarter … I think it was just overall the whole game – a lot of mental errors that we didn’t correct. Joel had a tough night, so that also doesn’t help. When we look back at this game, we know that we should’ve won this one, but Toronto made plays.

Did this feel like a playoff game down the stretch? Yes, no. It just felt like a game.