Raptors offense vs. Celtics defense
This matchup features the strength of both teams going head-to-head.
Last season, Toronto’s offense ranked third in the NBA, finishing only behind the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets historic offenses. They ranked top five in the NBA in both EFG% and TOV%, meaning they rarely turn the ball over and make a large amount of the shots they take. Two pretty important factors for any offense.
Even during their infamous playoff woes, the Raptors offense finished second in postseason efficiency.
Meanwhile, the Celtics finished with the number one defense in the entire NBA last season. Many are predicting Boston to regress this season, but with a young core that continues to gain experience, there is no reason they have too.
The addition of Kyrie will impact them slightly, but he did play in 60 games last season. Gordon Hayward is a positive addition to the defense, despite whatever lazy reputation follows him by some less informed fans.
The strength of Boston’s defense is their center, Al Horford who was voted to his first All-Defensive team last season. Horford is incredibly smart, quick, and active in the pick-and-roll. Naturally, it’s Horford who the Raptors will look to attack early in this series.
As great as Horford is defensively, his biggest struggles occur when guarding big, overpowering centers who punish you on the glass. Enter Jonas Valanciunas. JV will need to punish Horford down low in order to justify leaving him on the court against the Celtics premier pick-and-pop game.
If JV is not able to punish Horford on the offensive end or if his defensive liabilities prevent him from staying on the court for significant minutes, Toronto will attack the weakness of the Celtics defense, Kyrie Irving.
I’m skeptical Kyrie will consistently matchup with Kyle Lowry. With less threatening scoring options like Danny Green on the court, Boston will likely try to cross-matchup the Raptors offense. Irving will hide on Toronto’s least capable wing option, while bigger defenders like Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown serve as Lowry’s primary defender.
No matter where he’s at on the court, Toronto should target Irving in the pick-and-roll. Even a simple 1-2 (shooting guard screening for point guard) pick-and-roll will force Irving into the action.
Lastly, Toronto will also need to keep Kawhi involved. Boston is built as well as anyone to handle Leonard. They have a wide variety of bodies they can continue to rotate in hopes of tiring him out, similar to their plan with LeBron James last postseason.
Still, when a series is close, and you have the best player, you need to milk that cow for all it’s worth.