As the Philadelphia 76ers head into this Round 1 series with the Toronto Raptors, they are going to be favored to win this series. They have the two best players in the series in Joel Embiid and James Harden and that should carry them to a series win.
However, the Raptors have a strength that happens to be a big weakness for the Sixers.
Toronto is third in the NBA in transition points at 15.8 and the Sixers rank 28th in the NBA in transition points given up at 15.0 transition points given up. The Raptors thrive in the open court and Philadelphia has to keep them in the half-court on their offensive end.
“Huge emphasis,” said Danny Green. “Getting back is a huge emphasis and rebounding because we know how hard they go to the offensive glass and how fast they like to play so we gotta get back on defense and we have to box out. That’s the two biggest keys. If we do that, it’ll give us more of a chance to win the game.”
Per Cleaning the Glass, the Raptors averaged 91.3 points per 100 possessions in the half-court which is good for the 26th in the league. That is where Philadelphia can help themselves and be able to have success.
The game does slow down in the playoffs compared to the regular season, but coach Doc Rivers is still making sure the Sixers are ready for that challenge.
“They’re not gonna slow down,” said Rivers. “They’re gonna try to play the same and two of their strengths are two of our weaknesses. Transition D and rebounding so they’re gonna try to pound that into us and we’re gonna try to show that we can do both.”
Another big thing is that the Raptors are eighth in the league in rebounding and Philadelphia is ranked 29th. That is going to be a huge factor in this series as well.
“Obviously, they’re physical,” said Georges Niang. “They play a scrappy way and when they turn teams over and get extra possessions by offensive rebounding, it’s usually trouble for the other team. They’re long, they’re athletic, they do uncharacteristic things, but they’re a really talented team. They’re very talented.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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