The Toronto Raptors have been struggling a bit lately while the Philadelphia 76ers have been turning up the heat. The Sixers have climbed within three games of the Raptors in the Atlantic Division and they hope to cut that deficit a bit more when they host Toronto on Tuesday. This game presents us with an interesting matchup of two teams with championship hopes as well as a pair of individuals, in Philadelphia’s Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid, who can both make an impact on any game they are in. Let’s look at the point totals that we can expect from both players.
Jimmy Butler is definitely the more unknown variable in this equation as he has missed significant time over the past week, but appears to be back in form after putting in a lot of playing time over the last three games. Butler has averaged 19.3 points so far this season while playing an average of 33.1 minutes per game. He scored a season high 38 points in back-to-back games in early December but has reached the 30-point mark just once since and he averaged 19.6 points in January. He’s not going to drain many three pointers and while he’s a good free throw shooter, his opportunities have been quite limited.
These two teams have faced each other three times this year with the Raptors claiming victory in two of those games. The first two games were losses in Toronto in which Butler recorded 23 and 38 points respectively. He was held to just 12 points in a home win back in December. These scoring performances are quite varied but add up to about 24 points per game which is above his average. A conservative prediction for Tuesday’s matchup would be in the area of 19-20 points.
Joel Embiid has definitely held a hotter hand than his teammate, scoring an average of 29.2 points through January and 27.2 points per game during the season. He logs over 33 minutes each game and routinely nets at least 30 points. He scored 31 points in Philly’s first visit to Toronto but was held to just 10 points in the second visit. He scored 27 points in Philly’s home win in December. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that he would be able to drop 30 points in this game as he has been racking up those totals frequently over the past month.
Both of these guys should be motivated in this one as Toronto has shown weakness and Philly is within striking distance. Add in the fact that the Raptors have pretty much owned the Sixers over the past few years and you should have a Philly squad that is ready to turn it on for the home crowd.
My Predictions:
Jimmy Butler: Over 19.5 points
Joel Embiid: Over 29.5 points
