Toronto Raptors: Previewing a season-long battle with the Philadelphia 76ers

76ers offense vs. Raptors defense

As close as the other matchup will be, Toronto has the opportunity to gain a significant advantage on this end of the court. Toronto’s defense has the capability to be a top-five unit in the NBA, while the 76ers struggled offensively last season.

Last year, Philly finished with the 14th ranked offense in the NBA. 14th is league average; it’s not like they’re the Sacremento Kings. However, when the goal is an Eastern Conference or even NBA title, league average won’t cut it.

The 76ers will look to improve offensively despite a tricky spacing situation. They lost Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova from a team that didn’t have many shooters to spare.

Philadelphia also lacked dribble creation from anyone other than Simmons. During their postseason matchup with the Boston Celtics, Philly even added T.J. McConnel to the starting lineup to give the group some playmaking juice.

This year, coach Brett Brown has decided to add Markelle Fultz to the starting lineup. He’ll provide the team with some extra playmaking and dribble creation. Shooting, not so much.

In a very limited sample!, Philly has yet to show improvement offensively this season. It might take time for the offense to gel with newly integrated pieces OR the team might not have enough offensive firepower outside of Simmons and Embiid.

For Toronto, the gameplan should be simple. Use Kawhi to neutralize Ben Simmons to the extent possible, and swarm Joel Embiid with a swarm of bodies and help defenders.

As talented as Embiid is, he still is extremely prone to turnovers. Toronto will send double teams often and force Embiid to make the right decision on a consistent basis. If that requires giving the 76ers a few semi-contested, then so be it.

With Embiid drawing so much attention, Kawhi will be left on an island to guard Simmons. That’s why it’s our matchup to watch.