While most televisions in the Philadelphia area were playing Eagles-49ers, the Sixers kicked off their back-to-back with the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday evening. Like the Eagles, the Sixers were not able to come away with a victory, falling 116-115 in overtime after experiencing another brutal end-of-game collapse.

The Sixers should have won this game in 48 minutes after Tyrese Maxey staged a ridiculous run of clutch scoring, but a comedy of errors from the Sixers opened the door for the Raptors, who kicked it down to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation and then top the Sixers in their five extra minutes.

The Sixers took a few major hits before the game even started: Joel Embiid, questionable with left knee injury management on the Sixers' initial injury report for this game, was downgraded to out during the afternoon with an additional tag of left groin soreness. Just moments before tip-off, Paul George joined him; the veteran wing was scratched.

But there is no question the Sixers had enough manpower to win a game, particularly against a Raptors team working without Brandon Ingram and Jakob Poeltl. They failed to do so, as Tyrese Maxey's healthy scoring, Kelly Oubre Jr.'s two-way excellence and Adem Bona's resurgence were not enough to withstand Toronto's last-ditch effort in the fourth quarter and superior effort in overtime. The Sixers turned the ball over at the worst of times – up by two points with 11 seconds remaining – and Toronto found a way to stay alive. A raucous crowd and plenty of momentum were on their side. 

What you might have missed while you were wrapped up in the emotions of playoff football:

A clash of styles and sizes changes Nick Nurse's calculus

As Poeltl has battled injury issues for a prolonged stretch, the Raptors have, out of necessity, embraced small-ball. Backup center Sandro Mamukelashvili has been one of the league's best reserve bigs, but he has represented Toronto's only stable interior presence. Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković opted to start out even smaller than usual, not only going with rookie wing Collin Murray-Boyles over Mamukelashvili in the starting five – and, in turn, sliding the star wing Barnes up to center – but also replacing Ingram with Jamal Shead, a smaller guard.

While the Raptors presented as tiny but athletic, the Sixers opted to go for force and athleticism, even though it put them at a disadvantage in terms of end-to-end speed. In his return to the city where he became a champion, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse started a sizable unit, with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt, Oubre replacing George and the pairing of Dominick Barlow and Andre Drummond inside.

Barlow has been a complete revelation for the Sixers on a two-way deal and gave the Sixers an early scoring jolt when nobody else could get going, but lineups featuring both Barlow and Drummond have struggled significantly all season long; the lack of spacing has made things extremely tough on perimeter players. That continued early in this game, but the Sixers' offensive issues were matched by the Raptors, also having difficulty stringing together quality possessions in the opening frame.

Drummond has had a resurgent season when the Sixers badly needed stability behind Embiid, but he has largely thrived when he has been able to avoid defending in space. It became evident early on that this was a game better suited for Bona. Nurse has treated his backup center spot almost like a platoon in a baseball lineup, either riding the hot hand or playing the matchup. Both Drummond and Bona were needed in this one, but Nurse only needed to see a few minutes of both players to realize the younger, more spry center was the one worth riding in a setting like this.

Ultimately, the battle of different emphases worked in favor of Toronto, thanks in large part to a dismal offensive showing from the Sixers. For the second game in a row they failed to take or make good shots in the first half, but unlike the Sixers' win in Orlando on Friday, they did not have a prolonged stretch of cohesive two-way basketball.

The Sixers erased a 10-point deficit to build a lead in the third quarter, with Oubre having a profound impact on the game. Maxey had his tremendous scoring run in the fourth quarter. But the Sixers ran out of gas down the stretch; several times they found themselves one basket or one stop away from escaping and could not muster it. Toronto, meanwhile, just kept on coming. It is a tough loss to stomach for these Sixers, even without Embiid and George.

Trendon Watford is on the outside looking in

On Nov. 8, Nurse inserted a surging Watford into his starting five. Going up against these Raptors, Watford rewarded Nurse's faith by submitting the first triple-double of his NBA career. A lot has changed in the two-plus months since.

On Wednesday, Oubre and Watford both put ends to lengthy absences; Oubre was out for nearly two months while Watford missed well over a month himself. Naturally, Oubre was immediately inserted into Nurse's rotation; he was the Sixers' first wing off the bench in his return and is being gradually reintegrated into the action. George's absence meant Oubre returned to the starting lineup earlier than expected.

But Watford only played in garbage time on Wednesday – he recored three assists in nearly five minutes without attempting a shot – and then did not get off the bench on Friday. And for now, it appears the 25-year-old is on the outside looking in when it comes to Nurse's regular mix of frontcourt pieces. His red-hot stretch early in the season eventually came to an end, and by that time Barlow had already firmly supplanted him on the depth chart upon returning from his own injury. Now, it appears Nurse has more trust in his other two-way power forward, Jabari Walker, despite the 23-year-old's immense shooting struggles all season long.

On Sunday, it was once still Walker backing up Barlow at power forward, and even with George out Watford's rotation minutes were limited to one short stint midway through the second quarter. Watford played for just 134 seconds and did nothing of note.

With George's minutes going up (Sunday's absence notwithstanding) and now Oubre back, plus Barlow and Walker giving Nurse exactly what he is looking for with their cutting, defensive physicality and offensive rebounding, there is just not a place for a player as unorthodox as Watford right now. It is not a condemnation of his ability, but a 6-foot-9 point forward is a difficult player to throw into a group that is humming.

While Watford is a higher-upside player than Walker because he has considerably more offensive utility, if the Sixers are anywhere close to full strength, they might be able to make more use of Walker's hustle plays than Watford's shot creation. Another factor playing into Walker's hands: the Sixers can only activate him for a handful of games before he runs out of two-way availability. Before the Sixers decide about converting Walker's contract to a standard deal, they likely want the largest sample they can possibly attain.

Odds and ends

A pair of additional notes:

• More on George being ruled out: the Sixers said just minutes before tip-off that the nine-time All-Star had been ruled out due to left knee soreness, a cause for concern given the many issues that have plagued that knee since George arrived in Philadelphia.

• The Sixers nearly met their ultimate nightmare scenario late in the second quarter when Nurse had to call timeout because Maxey was struggling to get up after experiencing a bad landing. But Maxey never came out of the game, eventually getting to his feet and bypassing a trip to the locker room.

Up next: These two teams will do battle on the same floor again on Monday, with Embiid and George both suddenly uncertain to play.