The Toronto Raptors significantly retooled their team for a deep playoff run this season. So did the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto's opponent in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals.
Coming off their most decisive playoff win in franchise history -- a five-game romp over the Orlando Magic -- the second-seeded Raptors will face a much stronger playoff test in the 76ers. The series starts Saturday night in Toronto.
Franchise icon DeMar DeRozan was sent to San Antonio in a trade that brought star forward Kawhi Leonard to Toronto. The trade was a huge gamble, as Leonard was coming off a major injury that limited him to nine games last season. He's also an unrestricted free agent after this year and there has been speculation he'd be interested in moving back to his native California.
"Obviously we can always improve, but it's starting to click a little bit, whereas like we understand what each other does and just knowing each other's spots, and continue to help each other, especially on defence." "We have a team that is slowly coming together," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown told The Associated Press. "They don't have the luxury of lots of games and lots of context to share upon. And so you have Jo, you don't. You have Jimmy Butler, you don't. These guys have been great on trying to form a team."
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