Philadelphia @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( May 12, 2019 ) Philadelphia 90, Toronto 92

The Philadelphia 76ers showed just how dominant they can be on the defensive end in Saturday's 113-86 drubbing of the Miami Heat and are cruising along with wins in each of the last four games. The 76ers will get a chance to knock off another top team from the Eastern Conference when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The 86 points allowed marked a season low for Philadelphia, which built its roster this season with more size than most teams but had some trouble keeping the core healthy over the first month. The planned starting five of Tobias Harris, Al Horford, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson were all available on Saturday and the lowest plus-minus of the bunch was Embiid's plus-28 in 26 minutes. The Raptors, who knocked off Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals last spring, are no slouches on the defensive end either and lead the NBA in opponent field-goal percentage, holding foes to 41.3 percent from the floor. Toronto is doing its most impressive work on the other end of the floor during a three-game winning streak while averaging 121.3 points and outlasted Atlanta 119-116 on Saturday.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, Sportsnet One (Toronto)

ABOUT THE 76ERS (11-5): Richardson missed two games last week with a hip injury but returned Saturday and exploded for a season-high 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting in 28 minutes, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. "I saw my first couple of shots go through and I was staying aggressive, finding the spots and the big guys did a great job of getting me open on screens," Richardson told reporters. "I was able to create for myself and other guys off the screens." Richardson wasn't the only player with a hot shooting touch on Saturday as Harris and Horford combined to go 14-of-20 from the floor.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (11-4): Toronto is 6-0 at home but struggles a bit on the road and needed to grind out the victory in Atlanta on Saturday. "We'll take the win, obviously," Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet told reporters. "But I thought we were a little slow, not executing some of our coverages. It wasn't a good night defensively for us. We created just enough separation to get out of there." VanVleet did his part with 25 points and nine assists but the team leaned heavily on forward Pascal Siakam, who came through with 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. 76ers SG Furkan Korkmaz (ankle) sat out Saturday and is day-to-day.

2. Raptors PF Serge Ibaka (ankle) and PG Kyle Lowry (thumb) are both at least a few days from returning to the lineup.

3. Toronto took the Eastern Conference semifinals from Philadelphia in seven games last spring, with Kawhi Leonard's buzzer-beater in Game 7 proving to be the difference.

PREDICTION: Raptors 106, 76ers 103