Weekly Takes - Monday, April 25 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 25 Edition

1. During the 2014-2015 Maple Leafs season, it became obvious that they needed a full blown rebuild.

That is now the case with the Flyers.

They have some great, great players, but that core has reached its expiry date and it is ugly to watch.

No one should be off the table in Philly.

2. No three stars for the Leafs in their loss to the Lightning on Thursday as they had nothing in the tank after the first period.

The reality is, now, they are going to face Tampa Bay in round one with home ice advantage, barring a hot streak by the Bruins to close things out.

The last week of this season could not be more meaningless. Their only goals should be to remain healthy and avoid suspensions.

3. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Panthers on Saturday…

1. Auston Matthews

2. Ilya Lyubushkin

3. Mitch Marner

4. My three stars from the Leafs shootout win over the Capitals on Sunday…

1. Ilya Mikheyev

2. Matthews

3. Jason Spezza

5. My takeaways from the Raptors game two loss to the 76ers…

• The Raptors looked completely gassed. I am not ready to write off this series until we see how the Raptors look at home in game three but the Scottie Barnes injury, Gary Trent Jr. sickness, and Thad Young sprained finger looks to be too much for this team to overcome, which is not surprising given this team was not the deepest to begin with. You have to look no further than Fred VanVleet, who was outstanding in the first quarter but looked gassed after playing the entire first half. You can only ask for and expect so much.

• It does not help that the 76ers have come to play this series, either. Joel Embiid has come as advertised, James Harden is playing his best basketball as a 76er, and Tyrese Maxey has been the most improved player through the first two games of the postseason. Even Tobias Harris and Danny Green have dialled the clock back. They are simply humming.

• The officiating has been brutal. The 76ers would still be up 2-0 in this series even if the officiating was a lot more even, but that does not change the fact that the calls the 76ers are getting is disgraceful. This is not how the sport was designed to be played.

6. My takeaways from the Raptors heartbreaking game three loss to the 76ers…

• At the end of the day, the 76ers have a superstar in Embiid – a player who can single handily win you a series – and the Raptors do not. He is a top five player on the planet who completely took over the second half of the game. He is in his peak form right now and the 76ers better do something with it.

• The Raptors, as a team, did everything they needed to do to win this game. They won the fast break points, they won the turnover battle, and they barely lost the point in the paint battle, which was impressive without Barnes. But VanVleet and Pascal Siakam did not execute on an individual level and that was the difference. In the case of VanVleet, he had great looks but was not able to get the shots to go – that happens, for as unfortunate as it is. Siakam, though, was simply not good enough. He largely looked gassed down the stretch but he has to be better regardless. It does not help that people look at it as “Embiid versus Siakam” because Embiid is a number one option on a championship team. Siakam is not that and will never be that.

• With that being said, the Raptors not having “the guy” is not an issue as of right now. They are only three years removed from winning a championship and in that time span, lost Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, Danny Green, and Noman Powell. The fact that they are even back in the playoffs, let alone being a team that can compete for home court and against the very best teams in the NBA is impressive enough. The hope simply has to be that Scottie Barnes can become “the guy” sooner rather than later, because we know that Siakam can be a number two option, that VanVleet can be a number three option, and that OG Anuoby, Trent, and Precious Achiuwa can be great pieces to surround the core with. If Barnes can become a number one option, the ceiling of this team is unlimited. It also helps that this is a top-tier org who has their coaching, player development, and scouting staffs in place.

7. My takeaways from the Raptors game four win over the 76ers…

• As was the case in game four, they did everything they needed to do from a team perspective in order to win. The only difference is Siakam played up to his standard.

• Doc Rivers and Embiid complaining about the officiating is obviously the definition of irony, but more importantly if you are the Raptors, it shows that the 76ers are worried. Who knows where Embiid is at health wise, who knows if Rivers is capable of not choking again, and who knows what happens if the Raptors can somehow steal game five on the road. Toronto is playing with house money right now.

8. The Warriors game two win over the Nuggets on Monday, and, in particular, the third quarter, was a nice reminder of just how dominant the 2015-2018 Warriors really were and just how enjoyable they were to watch.

Everyone was so caught up in their “Kevin Durant should not have gone to the Warriors” and “ugh, we all know it is going to be Warriors-Cavs in the finals again” conversations that we probably took for granted how amazing this Steph Curry-Klay Thompson-Draymond Green Warriors era has been.