JJ Redick is surprised at how dominant Sixers have been vs. Raptors

Heading into this Round 1 series between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors, a lot of people thought this would be an interesting drag-out type of series. The Sixers are the more talented team, but the Raptors have championship pedigree and they have a tendency to bother Joel Embiid and the Sixers.

However, two games into it, things have not been close.

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Philadelphia won Game 1 by 20 points and they led Game 2 by as many as 29 points on their way to an easy win on Monday to take a 2-0 series lead. Tyrese Maxey has been terrific averaging 30.5 points through the first two games and Embiid is averaging 25 and 13. The Raptors just have no answer for them.

Former Sixers guard JJ Redick, who was on the 2019 team that fell to the Raptors in the semifinals, hopped on First Take on Tuesday and he was a little surprised at how dominant Philadelphia has been in this series:

I am actually surprised a little bit of how much they are having dominated this series The Raptors look completely outmatched. Philly’s more physical than them. They got more size than them. Going into this series, I thought this was going to be one of the most fascinating first round series. You’ve got Pascal Siakam, who probably will be on an All-NBA team this year. Fred VanVleet who’s a fringe All-NBA player this year, will get some votes for that Third Team, made the All-Star game. You got Nick Nurse, a championship head coach with a great pedigree who’s great at making adjustments. I didn’t see any adjustment between Game 1 and Game 2. The adjustment I saw was we’re going to be super physical in the first 10 minutes of the game and we’re gonna be more aggressive trying to get to the basket and create pass and kick opportunities. In terms of how they’re guarding Philly, though it’s a bunch of guys in gaps against James Harden, and a bunch of guys in a dig position against Joel Embiid. Those guys are going to put up numbers, but what that has allowed the Sixers to do is just make target practice passes for target practice shots. The amount of set 3s that Philly shooters are getting in this series is mind boggling. Mind boggling! No one within five feet of them and so that’s the adjustment you’re gonna have to make. You’re gonna have to pick a poison, you’re gonna have to be willing to die with that poison, and right now they’re just giving up too much and we brought up Tyrese Maxey. He has emerged in this season, but it’s specifically in these first two games as a legitimate star. He’s a phenomenal basketball player and fun to watch. He does a little bit of everything. Half court, full court, in transition. I love watching him score the basketball.

The Raptors are a team that doesn’t have a lot of size in terms of anybody who is 7-feet or anything, but they have a lot of 6-foot-9 guys who make up for their lack of height with their length as well as great schemes. Through two games, that has not been the case for Toronto and coach Nick Nurse is going to have to figure out ways to stop Philadelphia or this series will be quick.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!