When the Philadelphia 76ers arrived at the arena for Game 1 of this second-round playoff series Saturday morning they expected to get in before 11, but they had to wait. Why? Kawhi Leonard was on the main court, surrounded by almost 20,000 white T-shirts with his face on them, draped over empty seats. Leonard likes to do that on game days: an empty arena, someone to rebound his misses, quiet, work.
In this collision between Philadelphia and the Toronto Raptors, it could have been hard to divine the best player in this series. Both teams boast annihilating starting groups, but the higher you go, the more stars need to shine.