1 advantage the Toronto Raptors have over every Atlantic rival

Brooklyn Nets: Bench quality

The Nets are several tiers above the Raptors, as the combination of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden all on the floor at one time would make even the best defensive team shudder in fear. Toronto played well against them last year, but the Nets rarely had all of their stars healthy.

Those injuries exposed poor depth that Toronto could easily end up exploiting. Spencer Dinwiddie is in Washington, and Jeff Green is in Denver, so Brooklyn will lean on either first-year players like Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe or aging veterans like Patty Mills and DeAndre Jordan to carry the load.

The Toronto Raptors can exploit a thin Brooklyn roster.

The Raptors’ rotation can easily go 10 players deep, as each starter is supplemented by a high-end backup. Barnes, Flynn, Chris Boucher, and the rest of the bench mob could have some success attacking the Nets when one or more of their big stars are on the bench, a formula Toronto proved last year can lead to wins.

The Nets might as well start every game with 75 points on the board given their collection of stars. What Toronto needs to do to give them issues is choke the life out of them whenever the bench players come in.