3 biggest takeaways after Game 1 of Raptors-76ers series

1. The Raptors’ defense may not be as good as we thought.

Much was made about Toronto’s lockdown defense and their ability to generate chaos by switching so frequently thanks to all of their versatile forwards. However, the Raptors failed to get any sort of stops. Philadelphia had their choice of avenues with which to abuse Toronto defensively.

Toronto recorded just three turnovers despite coming into the series ranked second in the league in forced turnovers per game. Not only was that number abnormally low, but it ties the record for the fewest turnovers in a playoff game. While Embiid was limited to just 19 points, Maxey and Tobias Harris looked like they were playing in an open gym.

Is the Toronto Raptors’ defense still elite?

This unit might be a top-ten unit in terms of defensive rating in the regular season, but when they aren’t able to generate turnovers, the lack of height and muscle can become a real problem for this team. Are they good enough in the half-court to slow down all of these scorers?

The Raptors were reactive instead of proactive the entire game. They were adjusting to whatever Philly threw at them. Being assertive and forcing Philadelphia to play at Toronto’s speed will be key in the remaining games. With the whistle Embiid was getting, it could be a short series if the defense produce another dud in Game 2.