Can the Raptors Prove Themselves as Tough Stretch Approaches?
It’s no secret that the Toronto Raptors are a spectacular basketball team: They are top 10 in offensive rating, defensive rating, and rebounding as the major categories. Toronto has an MVP candidate in Kawhi Leonard, and a 4-time All Star point guard in Kyle Lowry. Their youth and great talent playing alongside veterans in Danny Green and C.J Miles is great for the team, not to mention the 3-point shooting that the two veterans bring to the table.
Because the Toronto Raptors are a more complete team than ever, they have the right pieces to contend, as many people in the media are predicting. When Demar Derozan was with the team, the Raptors were missing defensive toughness and 3-point ability. That’s exactly what they got when the Raptors traded him for Kawhi Leonard in the blockbuster trade during the summer. After the trade was first announced, NBA fans were quoted as saying, “It’s going to be an all or nothing season for Toronto”. Since Kawhi only had one more year left on his contract, it was speculated that he may opt to leave should the Raptors not succeed.
Fortunately for Toronto, the trade worked out perfectly: They got the defensive intensity that the Raptors lacked at times last season, as well as 3-point shooting from both Kawhi and Danny Green. But most importantly, the Toronto Raptors have a 20-4 record: The best record in the NBA right now. So, as long as the Raptors could stay healthy, it most certainly seems like they could keep this up.
However, one big factor to look at is how the schedule has been kind to them lately. The Toronto Raptors have had one of the easiest schedules thus far: Only 7 of the 24 games that the Raptors played were against teams above a .500 record. That includes their impressive win that have rolled around latel against Golden State and Memphis. After coming off an impressive win against Cleveland on Saturday, things won’t be coming as easily for Toronto: 9 of Toronto’s next 11 games will be against teams over .500, including Denver, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Golden State (again), Portland, Denver (again), Los Angeles Clippers, and Indiana. All of those 9 teams are expected to finish atop their conference and make a deep playoff run.
Of course, the Raptors do have a lot of talent, but the month of December will be a tough stretch, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Raptors handle it. Head coach Nick Nurse has had some fun constantly adjusting the rotations, but now is when things have to fall into place. Luckily for them, Lowry is coming back from his minor back injury just in time. So with everyone healthy, and a talented roster, there’s no reason why the Raptors can’t succeed in the month of December, even with the toughest portion of their schedule coming up.