The Toronto Raptors are the clear underdogs heading into their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. It's not hard to see why.

The Sixers have the clear-cut best player in the series and MVP candidate on their side in Joel Embiid. They also have the second best player in the series and former MVP winner in James Harden.

The Raptors have a couple of All-Star players in Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam, but matching up to their rivals in star power is a tall task. Thankfully, that hasn't been Toronto's M.O. for the past handful of seasons. Instead, they've been out-preparing, out-planning, and, oftentimes, out-coaching their opponents and it's all thanks to Nick Nurse.

Ahead of the Sixers series, several Raptors spoke out on their secret weapon of a coach in a recent report from TSN's Josh Lewenberg. Safe to say they're confident that their primary play-caller will be up to the challenge.

Via TSN:

VanVleet, asked if the Raptors have a Plan B or if they've got to play to their identity (crashing offensive glass) in order to win games: “Yeah, c'mon, it's Nicky Nurse baby.”

At this point, Nick Nurse' reputation precedes him when it comes to making sure the Raptors are in the best position possible, whether it be through pre-game scouting reports or in-game adjustments, in order to topple their opponents. They're not trying to match the Sixers' firepower. Nick Nurse isn't trying to figure out how to match Philadelphia's firepower, but instead finding ways to extinguish their highly-combustible superstar scorers.

“When I first got here and I [saw] the first scouting report, I was like, oh s***,” recently acquired vet Thaddeus Young – who’s played for seven teams in his 15 NBA seasons – said the other day. “That was one of the best scouting reports I’ve ever seen.”

There's close to zero chance that the Raptors will be able to contain Joel Embiid for the entire series. But there's a slight difference between trying to contain a perimeter superstar threat like say Kevin Durant versus a post player who needs to be fed touches, even one as talented as Embiid. He won't be bringing the ball up nor will he be flashing out to the perimeter too often. There are going to be a lot of paint denials and quick double-teams in the Sixers big man's future. While that won't stop him completely, Embiid's definitely going to work for every bucket against the Nurse-led Raptors.

Chris Boucher could attest to the level of defensive complexity that Nick Nurse is willing to dive deep into in order to win.

Boucher on Nurse: “We've gone from box-and-1 to zone to man-to-man to (things) I didn't even know were in the book… It's the playoffs so who knows what else he has in his book but it's gonna come out and y'all gonna see it and we're all gonna learn (about) it at the same time”

With all the defensive attention bound to be given to Joel Embiid, it's James Harden who will likely have a great chance to exploit lapses in any Toronto defense. But the Raptors have the length and switchability to give James Harden fits, especially given that he hasn't exactly been a big-time playoff performer throughout his NBA career. Containing both stars will take an extreme amount of discipline, a little bit of luck, and a sound defensive game plan that's adaptable to dynamic offensive situations. One thing's for sure – Nick Nurse is going to make sure that last bit is going to be covered.

“Plan A, B, C, D, where does it stop at some point? I guess there’s not an infinite amount of things we can do but there is a certain number of things we can do,” said Nurse. “I couldn’t tell you what the plan is for Saturday yet because we’re certainly still kicking it around and watching our film and seeing what we’ve done and how they’ve countered, and all those kinds of things.”

It's still going to be an uphill battle for the Toronto Raptors. But with a mix of such savvy veteran, emerging young players, and a elite coach, nobody's going to be surprised if they somehow manage to shock the Sixers in their first-round series.