PHILADELPHIA — Danny Green wasn’t ready for his Moses Malone moment, so I guess I’ll be the one to say it. Take the Sixers in five. And don’t think twice.
As for Green, I don’t blame him for laying it on thick when somebody asked him about the growing perception that the Sixers are ripe for an upset in their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. The first rule in any postseason matchup is to seize the motivational high ground. Up in Toronto, Nick Nurse can’t be thrilled that his team has emerged as a trendy upset pick in recent days. The idea of the Raptors as a playoff sleeper has reached a conventional enough point that Shaquille O’Neal actually made headlines by picking the Sixers in a sweep.
Green, who won a title in Toronto in 2019, wasn’t going to be the one to pour cold water on that kind of hype.
