By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers got their first chance to make a first impression on the postseason and boy, did they make a strong one. Opening Round Robin play against the top-seeded Boston Bruins, the Flyers delivered a 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon.

There were players making their playoff debut, recent additions contributing, depth players stepping up in a big way and an overall defensive effort that completely shut down the powerful top line of the Bruins.

The win did come with a potential cost, but the Flyers depth has been a focal point to their season, and that could come into play again in the coming days.

Here are 5 takeaways from the Flyers win over the Bruins.

The YWT Podcast was recorded live this week following the Flyers 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins in their first Round Robin game.

Kyle Collington, Kevin Durso and Josh Guertler break it all down, looking at the keys to the victory and talking about the Flyers depth, Carter Hart's playoff debut, the pairing of Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers and much more. They also discuss some of the other qualifying round matchups and the game presentation from the hub cities.

You can listen to this episode of the podcast below and be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Podbean. 

You can also replay the live stream of this episode from Facebook below and subscribe to watch all episodes of the YWT Podcast on YouTube.

As always, we want you to follow the podcast on Twitter @YWTpodcast, follow Kevin Durso on Twitter @Kevin_Durso, follow Josh Guertler on Twitter @GuertlerJosh, and follow producer Mike Giletto Jr. on Twitter @Mike_Giletto.

Bill Gorman, Sports Talk Philly Contributor

Note – this is the third in a four-part series to preview the 76ers return to NBA action, see part one here and part 2 here, and part 3 here

 We have now reached the final segment of our 76ers Bubble Preview. The first three parts featured Indiana, San Antonio, Washington, Orlando, Portland and Phoenix. This week we will be taking on the Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets

Toronto Raptors

Pre-stoppage record: 46-18 (2^nd in East)
Key players: Pascal Siakam (23.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.6 APG) Kyle Lowry (20.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 7.6 APG), Fred VanVleet(17.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.7 APG), Serge Ibaka (15.8 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.4 APG) 

Toronto comes into the Orlando bubble as a legitimate title contender. Not just because they won the 2019 NBA title, but because they have an excellent roster and one of the best coaches in the NBA in Nick Nurse. Of the 76ers’ eight opponents in the seeding games in Orlando, these Raptors, along with the Houston Rockets, present the greatest test.

Offensively, the Raptors can really come at you in waves. Pascal Siakam, in his third year out of New Mexico, has taken the leap from “sturdy 3-and-D guy” to a legitimate offensive threat, replacing Kawhi Leonard as the team’s lead option. Kyle Lowry has always provided a steady hand in running the offense, and can be counted on to provide plenty of offense from the perimeter. Fred VanVleet, like Siakam, has flourished in an expanded role, providing playmaking and strong outside shooting. Nurse gives this team a variable offense that can adjust to its opponents’ defensive schemes, and though it relies a lot on three-pointers (7^th in the league in attempts), the Raptors are really good at hitting them (6^th in the league at 37.1%), with six of their regulars averaging 38% or better with at least 3.3 attempts a night.

All that said, where the Raptors really shine is on the defensive end, sitting 2^nd in the NBA in defensive rating (105.2 points/100 possessions). Lowry and Siakam continue to be menaces on the perimeter while Marc Gasol is still one of the league’s better interior defenders. Nurse has been known as a particularly creative defensive coach since his time in the G-League, so it is no surprise to see how variable his teams are defensively, switching seamlessly between man and zone concepts depending on the opponents’ lineup. The Raptors are so good defensively that you might even see them change defensive concepts in mid-possession, and they are cohesive enough to pull that off.

Houston Rockets 

Pre-stoppage record: 40-24 (fourth in West) 

Key players: James Harden (34.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 7.4 APG), Russell Westbrook (27.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 7.0 APG), Robert Covington (12.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG) 

This just might be the most interesting games for the Sixers out of their eight seeding games. It is going to be the clash of old school versus new school in terms of roster construction. 

At the trade deadline this year the Rockets decided to shock the NBA and trade away their starting center and pick up no big men to replace him. They run the smallest lineup in the league and base their game around playing fast and shooting a lot of three-pointers. It will be interesting to see this matchup of a super small lineup versus the Sixers' lineup of size of length. 

The Sixers are going to have their hands full in this game. Not only with trying to slow down the backcourt of Harden and Westbrook, but chasing around all of Houston's shooters on the perimeter. Guys like Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, and Ben Simmons are really going to have to play strong on the outside on defense.

On the other side of the ball, this should be a big game for Joel Embiid. There is nobody on the Rockets' lineup with the size or strength to slow down Embiid at rim. Taking advantage of the size mismatch is going to be a huge key for the Sixers if they want to win this game.

It will be interesting to see if Joel Embiid will be able to stay on the floor defensively with the Rockets spending all their time on the perimeter, but he should be nothing but dominant on the offensive side of the ball. 

Whichever team controls the pace will most likely walk away with the win in this game. If the Rockets get off to the races and turn the game into a track meet and shootout the Sixers are going to struggle playing catch-up. But if the Sixers can keep the game at their pace and let Embiid do his work down low they should walk away with the win.

It is going to be old-school versus new-school in this game, should be an interesting and fun game to watch for basketball fans. 

By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

More bad news on the COVID front once again.

On Sunday, ESPN's Tim McManus announced that Doug Pederson has tested positive for coronavirus.

Filed to ESPN: Eagles coach Doug Pederson has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to sources. He relayed the news to the team tonight after a second positive test confirming the news.

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) August 3, 2020

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

For a number of Flyers players, this was the first chance to make an impression in the playoffs. Yes, it was the Round Robin debut and there was really nothing at stake, but these were considered playoff games.

Carter Hart made 34 saves in his playoff debut and Phil Myers scored a goal as the Flyers depth and young talent came through in a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins in the Round Robin opener on Sunday afternoon.

Brett & Mike discuss the latest surrounding players that have opted against playing in 2020.  Fans need to let players make their decisions and accept it! 

• Are the Patriots up to no good?
• Notre Dame joins the ACC for 2020 but does that open Pandora's box?
• The Rutgers situation is a prime example of why a Fall 2020 season will be difficult

Around the NFC East

• Lane Johnsin is positive for COVID did he do enough to prevent exposure? 
• Eagles WR room chaos! Goodwin out, Jeffery on the PUP
• The Gettleman Files: latest in the Giants GM's ineptitude
• Washington's Alex Smith is cleared to play
• PUP problems in Big D?

This Week in the #RedZone!

• Who won the Jamal Adams trade?
• Joey Bosa got PAID & More! 

Presented by Michael's Glass Co, serving the Philadelphia tri-state area since 1978! 

About The Goal Line Stand:  All Football! All the Time!

Mike, a die-hard Eagles fan, & Brett, a die-hard Giants fan, are lifelong friends that have decided the world needs to hear their opinions about football!

Each week they'll discuss the biggest stories in the world of football! NFL, NCAA, CFL, XFL, draft previews, mock drafts, interviews, they do it all!

Nothing is off limits! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll ask yourself what is wrong with these two!?

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By Matt Gregan, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The 76ers, despite a 41-point, 21-rebound effort from Joel Embiid, began their seeding games with a 127-121 loss to the Indiana Pacers at the Visa Athletic Center in Disney World. TJ Warren dropped a career-high 53 points on 20-0f-29 shooting to push the Pacers past Philadelphia. The loss gives the Pacers control over the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference due to them winning the season series.

In addition to Embiid's dominant night, Tobias Harris added in 30 points and eight rebounds while Ben Simmons finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. However, the work of the 76ers' superstar trio was not enough to compete with Warren's 53-point performance.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

After one tune-up for each of the 24 teams in the hub cities, the games finally count. For the Flyers, there are three more opportunities to figure out a successful formula for the first round of the playoffs. 

With that in mind, each of the next three games comes against a team that is safe through the qualifiers and comes with the opportunity to move up in the seeding and potentially get the designation of being the home team throughout the playoffs. 

It begins against the Boston Bruins, a team that was on a hot streak and running away with the President's Trophy at the time of the pause. It becomes the first test for the Flyers to see where they stand as the playoffs approach.

Game time is 3 p.m.

Photo: John Dalton - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdalton/3818727475/, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

The Phillies are planning to play.   After what will be seven days total without Phillies baseball, the Phillies will play an actual Major League Baseball game.  After a frustrating week for the Phillies with some added challenges, the Phillies are set to make up the series against the New York Yankees that they missed this past week.

The Phillies formally announced the resumption of games Saturday afternoon:

pic.twitter.com/qV2u7HlaGd

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 1, 2020

The Phillies had been scheduled to play the Marlins in Miami.  

This series is hurricane-permitting.  Hurricane Isaias is set to make landfall in Florida early tomorrow, then is expected to track up the coast, potentially affecting Philadelphia and New York Tuesday into Wednesday.  Perhaps the reason the times are listed as "TBD" is to try to work around bad weather when possible.

Speaking to reporters in a Saturday afternoon Zoom call including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Phillies manager Joe Girardi said that the Phillies had two "false positive" COVID tests that led to further shutdowns.   There were reports that a coach and additional Phillies staff member had tested positive for COVID-19.  It appears it is just the visiting clubhouse employee who contracted the virus.

When the Phillies halted play on Monday, the Yankees were set to play the Marlins in Miami.  Instead, the Yankees traveled to Baltimore to face the Orioles.  The Orioles would have been the opponent of the Yankees this week. Instead, the Orioles will essentially take a bye as the Marlins are not ready to play yet.

When asked about pitchers, Girardi would not speculate, noting that Hurrican Isaias could quickly mess that up.  

"Can we just get through Monday?"