Ben Simmons will face his nemesis Kawhi Leonard when the Philadelphia 76ers head north to Canada to face the Toronto Raptors on the next leg of their pursuit of the NBA title.
The Raptors' All-Star forward dominated the 76ers' Australian star in their three meetings this year.
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The Raptors won all three comfortably while Simmons had 24 turnovers, including a career-high 11 in a 129-112 loss where Leonard had 31 points and no turnovers.
The only game the 76ers beat the Raptors this season, Leonard sat out.
Game one of the best-of-seven eastern conference semi-final series is in Toronto onSunday (AEST).
The 76ers' coach Brett Brown said Simmons would guard Leonard, but not exclusively with multiple Philadelphia players thrown at the three-time All-Star and former NBA finals MVP.
"So it would be wrong to assume that's his match-up for the series," Brown told reporters on Thursday.
"For sure he will be on him, but I think we will have different candidates that we hope to show Kawhi different looks."
Brown talked down the significance of the 76ers' 1-3 regular season record against the Raptors, pointing to the major trades both teams executed since their last meeting.
The Sixers acquired Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott in a February trade.
The Raptors added Marc Gasol, a three-time All-Star centre and former NBA defensive player of the year.
"Gasol is an incredible acquisition for them," Brown, noting the Raptors became the NBA's best three-point shooting team after the Gasol trade, said.
Simmons does have bragging rights over Leonard in one other category.
The NBA announced on Thursday that Simmons' 76ers jersey was the ninth most popular during the 2018-19 regular season according to sales on NBAStore.com.
Leonard was not in the top 15.
LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers jersey was No.1, followed by Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Giannis Antetokounmpo, (Milwaukee Bucks), Kyrie Irving (Boston Celtics), Joel Embiid (76ers), James Harden (Houston Rockets), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Kevin Durant (Warriors).
Simmons sold more jerseys than teammate Jimmy Butler who came in 10th and retiring great Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat), Paul George (Thunder) and Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers).
The Lakers also sold more merchandise than any other team followed by the Warriors, Celtics and 76ers.
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