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Having lost ten out of thirteen games in the first month of regular season action, the Sixers were unable to get off to a good start and find themselves on the last place of the Eastern Conference. Thus, Andre Iguodala and the Philadelphia 76ers are under significant pressure to get a win when they meet the Toronto Raptors on Thursday at midnight GMT.

Even though the Raptors might end up spending another year in the lottery, the franchise from Ontario has shown some promising signs early in the season. More specifically, sophomore guard Demar DeRozan has improved considerably and put up 13.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game so far. Likewise, Andrea Bargnani appears to be well on his way of becoming the team's new leader and contributed 21.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest while shooting 45% from beyond the arc. Therefore, the Raps have a good chance of climbing to a 5-9 record when their encounter with the Sixers gets underway on Thursday night.

You can watch all games of the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.

Posted: 7th October 2009

Without any doubts, hardly any team underwent such a major roster overhaul as the Toronto Raptors. Trying to keep franchise centerpiece Chris Bosh in Ontario, GM Bryan Colangelo brought many new faces to Toronto, hoping to make some noise in the Eastern Conference this year. In their first preseason test, the Raptors will host the Philadelphia 76ers at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday at 11 p.m. GMT.

Even though there was a general consensus around the league that Toronto underachieved in 2008-09, it did not change the fact that the team lacked depth off the bench and more consistent rebounding. Thus, the Raptors drafted shooting guard Demar DeRozan as well as acquiring Hedo Turkoglu through a three-way sign-and-trade deal with the Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic. Therefore, the team around All-Star Chris Bosh will feature one of the tallest starting lineups in the league and are hoping to pull down more boards night in and night out this year. Moreover, Colangelo signed combo guard Jarret Jack from the Indiana Pacers, shooting guard Marco Belinelli from the Golden State Warriors, defensive minded swingman Antoine Wright as well as power forward Reggie Evans and veteran center Rasho Nesterovic. Obviously, the team looks much better on paper, but the overhauled squad has yet to prove that they function well together on the floor.

In contrast, the Philadelphia 76ers lost starting point guard Andre Miller to the Portland Trailblazer and have yet to determine who will run the show in Philly this season. However, Elton Brand is fully recovered from his injury that kept him off the floor for almost the entire 2008-09 season. Likewise, the 76ers acquired Jason Kapono from the Raptors who will give them a legitimate threat from three-point range.

Given the aforementioned roster changes, it is relatively difficult to estimate how the Raptors will match-up with the 76ers. Most importantly, head coach Jay Triano can be expected to try various lineups and game plans in order to determine what suits the new squad best. Thus, Toronto might have more talent on their roster but may not have the chemistry that Philly showcased throughout most of last year’s NBA campaign. Nonetheless, fans around the league can be expected to tune in to watch the new Raptors’ squad take on Philadelphia with their much anticipated front-court duo consisting of Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert.

You can watch all games of the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming.