The defending champion Toronto Raptors are having a great stint in the Disney bubble. After going 7-1 in the seeding games, they cruised in the first round of the playoffs and swept the Brooklyn Nets, 4-0.

With the hype getting stronger by the day, though, head coach Nick Nurse is managing the team’s emotions and reminding his guys not to let all of the praise get to their heads. That’s because they now face a formidable foe in the Boston Celtics, who also dispatched their first round opponents, the Philadelphia 76ers, in four games.

When asked about the Celtics earlier this week, Nurse was all praise and well aware that they have their work cut out for them (via Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe):

“I think they’re really good … They’re super talented, deep, they’re very well coached. I think they’re playing great at the moment.”

The Celtics weren’t as smooth as the Raptors in the seeding games (5-3), but aside from similarly dominating the opening round of the postseason, which may be slightly more impressive since it involved overcoming an All-Star big man in Joel Embiid, they match up great with the Raptors.

Nurse hasn’t forgotten:

“They put away a very talented (Philadelphia 76ers) team with ease, with ease. There was never a doubt really in that series, which way that was going, maybe a little bit in one game. They handled us really good in the bubble here. I’m hoping it’s a great series. We’re going to need to play great to beat them.”

The Raptors lost the season series 1-3, and the Celtics are the only team to beat them in the bubble. It wasn’t pretty too, either. Though the Raps went in with the momentum of three-straight easy victories, they got crushed 122-100, and trailed by more than 30 points. It was their worst loss of the season and the most points and highest shooting percentage (49%) that they allowed since the restart.

Check out this great breakdown by Half Court Hoops:

QUICK SERIES PREVIEW:

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is just as grounded as his counterpart. He, too, isn’t getting caught up with regular season wins and playoff series that are over and done:

However, they’re looking forward to the match-up. Stevens is a brilliant coach and they have two great young, rising wing scorers in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as well as a clutch, explosive scoring guard in Kemba Walker.

In four meetings this season, they held the Raptors to 105.3 PPG (-7 from their reg. season avg.) and forced them to commit a whopping 19.8 turnovers per game.

Then again, it’s never wise to count out the defending champs, and the Raptors certainly have their own fair share of strengths.

Toronto’s team formula is simple and beautiful to watch: play a blue-collar, unselfish brand of basketball. It’s a core without marquee superstars and hero ball offense, but plenty of ball movement, defense, and hustle.

Such factors were evident in their series-closing, 150-122 win over the Nets this past Monday. Their defense held Brooklyn below 40 FG% for the third-straight game and their offense became the first team to score 100 bench points.

Here are key regular season stats to close things out:

  • Allowed the fewest points per game (106.5)
  • Allowed fewest field goals (2,721)
  • Allowed lowest three-point shooting (33.7%)
  • Allowed second-fewest points in the paint per game (41.1)
  • Second in defensive rating
  • Second in steals
  • Five players averaged 15 or more points (first team to do so in 46 years)