Cristian Rodriguez

The Sixers vs Raptors series is going to be determined by the minutes without Joel Embiid.

How poorly the Sixers play when Embiid heads to the bench has been well-chronicled. The DeAndre Jordan and Paul Millsap minutes haven’t exactly won over most fans, and the rest of the bench is spotty at times.

With Embiid on the court, the Sixers have an offensive rating of 115.4, putting them 2nd in the league. Without him, they posted up a rating of 109.9, putting them 24th in the league.

Meanwhile, without their all-star Fred VanVleet on the court, the Raptors are posting up a rating of 115.5. The Sixers bench is going to have to show up against this team, and a lot of it depends on who will be receiving minutes.

In the postgame for the Sixers last game of the season, Reporters asked Glenn (Doc) Rivers if Paul Reed or DeAndre Jordan would be given the backup center minutes in the playoffs. Begrudgingly, he answered that “We’ll play smaller with Paul. When there’s a big five, we play bigger with DJ [DeAndre Jordan].”

While the truthfulness in this statement could be debated, Raptors centers Khem Birch and Precious Achiuwa are both 6’9.”  Pascal Siakam will likely be playing some center as well at 6’8. With a wingspan of 7’2 and great athleticism Paul Reed presents a good matchup for the Raptors centers and will likely be given the green light this series.

When it comes to home games, Sixers’ Danny Green will be playing the backup small forward position. So far, he’s been having an up and down season in terms of shooting. Hopefully though we’ll be seeing more of the shooting we saw from him in the Pacers and Raptors games at the end of the season.

Matisse Thybulle will not be able to play in Toronto due to Canada’s vaccination requirements for entry. With that in mind, Green will likely enter the starting lineup for away games, and Korkmaz will play the backup small forward position. Korkmaz has had his worst season according to a few metrics. He shot a career low in both 3PT% and FG% and averaged less points than last season, which led him to getting benched this season. If Korkmaz can return to form this series, it would provide a huge boost to the team without Thybulle.

The bench will be rounded out by Shake Milton and Georges Niang. Niang has arguably been the teams best and most consistent bench player. Shake on the other hand has had some struggles this season in the way of injuries and poor shooting. As of late though, Shake’s been turning it on, capping off the season with a 30 point performance.

Starter minutes are also going to be staggered. Tobias Harris and James Harden see plenty of action with the backup lineups. As of late, Harris has been playing some of the most efficient basketball in his career, posting 15-4-5 on 50% from the field and 40% from 3. As long as Harris keeps this up, the minutes with Harris on and Embiid off should not be much of an issue.

Harden on the other hand, is still struggling to put things together. Harden’s burst off the dribble is noticeably slower, and his shot has yet to fall consistently. Hopefully this week off from games helps Harden dial back in.

With all this being said, Embiid is likely going to be playing about 40 minutes a game in the playoffs. Give or take, that’ll leave 8-10 minutes for Paul Reed or DJ to play. 8-10 minutes seems miniscule, but it can swing a game at the snap of a finger. Only time will tell if this bench is ready for the big moments.