Toronto Raptors: How the Raptors Can Be Surprise Title Contenders This Season
The city of Toronto hasn't won a world championship in any sport since 1993, but that could soon change with the Toronto Raptors.
Guess who's just one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference as of Tuesday?
The Toronto Raptors sit near the top of the standings in the East over a quarter of the way through the season and could be the surprise team that can dethrone Cleveland on their way to their first NBA Finals appearance.
Toronto has already beaten Cleveland once this year. These aren't the same old Raptors.
"The Raptors' season [in 2014-15] ended in a sweep, too, but the circumstances couldn't have been less similar. They were embarrassed by the Washington Wizards, and had to endure Paul Pierce hitting clutch shots and yelling, "That's why they brought me here!" for the second straight year.
[DeMarre] Carroll wants to focus on the future, but knows the locker room is full of guys who have a bad taste in their mouths.
"DeMar [DeRozan], that's all he talks about," Carroll said. "I know he's really pissed off."
The hope is that this time will be different.
"
Toronto has won 16 of its first 26 games, including wins over Cleveland, the Dallas Mavericks, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Washington Wizards, the Atlanta Hawks, the Los Angeles Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs.
Five of those seven marquee wins in the early portion of this season have come on the road. They're not Animal and Hawk, but the Raptors have been road warriors so far this season.
According to the Simple Rating System from Basketball-Reference.com that factors in the average point differential and strength of schedule, Toronto ranks eighth out of the 30 NBA teams.
Four Eastern Conference teams—the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Cleveland—rank higher than Toronto on the list, but coincidentally, Toronto is 3-1 against those four teams this season.
The Raptors are a team that you have to take an in-depth look at to appreciate. The basic statistics don't tell the whole story.
| Field Goal Percentage | Three-Point Percentage | Two-Point Field Goal Percentage | Points Per Game |
| 44.0% | 35.3% | 47.2% | 99.5 |
| 19th in the NBA | 14th in the NBA | T-19th in the NBA | 19th in the NBA |
When you take a deeper look, their advanced numbers look much more like a team that has beaten and competed with some of the league's top-tier teams.
| Offensive Rating | Defensive Rating | Free Throw Rate | Margain of Victory |
| 106.4 | 102.4 | .333 | 3.73 |
| 6th in the NBA | 11th in the NBA | 4th in the NBA | 8th in the NBA |
On top of their advanced numbers, only two teams—San Antonio and Miami—give up fewer points per game than Toronto's 95.8 points per contest.
To put that in perspective, the league's best team on both ends of the floor since the start of last season, the Golden State Warriors, gave up 99.9 points per game last season.
Furthermore, teams are only shooting 42.6 percent against the Raptors this season, tied for the fourth-lowest percentage behind San Antonio, Miami and the Chicago Bulls.
Only Chicago and San Antonio have a better percentage than Toronto's 45.1 percent in its opponent's shooting percentage inside the arc.
How is Toronto getting it done when its offensive pace of 93.6 ranks a lowly 27th out of 30 teams? Its effort on the defensive end is a good place to look.
One play from the second tight matchup with the Golden State Warriors stood out. A rebound opportunity went off of Cory Joseph's hand and kept the ball with the Warriors, but the effort of Patrick Patterson almost gave the Raptors one last shot at ending Golden State's long win streak.
Patterson is isolated one-on-one with Klay Thompson and forces him left by moving his feet and making him take a bad shot from the baseline with the shot and game clocks winding down.
Although the Raptors didn't win either meeting against the 24-1 Warriors, they showed that they can play with anybody in the league in both meetings against the NBA's best team. It took overtime in the first matchup between the two teams, and 44 points from Stephen Curry to keep the Raptors down in the second meeting.
It's been Paul George grabbing most of the headlines for his resurgence in Indiana, but Kyle Lowry's early-season play has earned him the unofficial title of "best point guard in the Eastern Conference" so far this year.
Through 26 games, Lowry is averaging 21.5 points per contest and is shooting 40.9 percent from three-point territory.
The only player to hit more threes than Lowry has this season? Stephen Curry.
On top of that, Curry and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook are the only two players in the NBA with a higher value over replacement player (VORP) than Lowry.
He's been that good.
Lowry's play has been vital for the Raptors in their difficult start, especially with the newly-signed DeMarre Carroll missing eight games already this season with foot and knee issues.
In the NBA, you have to have elite point guard play to be successful. Lowry's on his way to being one of the starters for the East in this year's All-Star Game, which happens to be in Toronto.
In Carroll's absence, the Raptors are 5-3, including wins in four of their last five games.
The Raptors have the right pieces to the puzzle.
A point guard playing among the league's best? Check.
A backup point guard with a winning pedigree who can provide a spark off the bench? Check.
Playmakers on the wings? Check.
Role players who can contribute in the conference that's been LeBron James and then everybody else in recent years? Check.
So, why not the Raptors? Why can't Canada's lone NBA franchise represent the Eastern Conference next June?
When you look at the big picture in the East, it's messier than a four-year-old's bedroom.
First place (Cleveland) through 10th place (Atlanta) in the East is separated by just three games.
Just look at Monday's night meeting between Toronto and Indiana. The Raptors started the game out on a 26-5 run. Then, Indiana went on a 39-4 run and never looked back.
What kind of sense does that make?
Cleveland's getting healthier, but Miami hasn't really shown how good it can be.
Charlotte has been a nice surprise. Boston and Chicago's defensive numbers look great, but both teams have had a difficult time scoring the ball.
And the team that swept the Raptors out of the playoffs last season—Washington—can't stay healthy.
The heavy slate of Christmas Day games hasn't even arrived and beating the Golden State Warriors seems easier than figuring out the Eastern Conference.
It's early, but make no mistake about it: Drake isn't the only topic of discussion in terms of Toronto.
Over the next 10 games, the Raptors play against Charlotte, Chicago (twice) and Washington, while playing Miami on the road. After that stretch, they'll begin a five-game road trip in Cleveland—their only trip to Cleveland during the regular season—on the back end of a back-to-back set on Jan. 4.
The East is utter chaos, so don't be surprised if Jan. 4 isn't Toronto's lone trip to the state of Ohio this season.
Stats via Basketball-Reference.com
Michael Whitlow is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow Michael on Twitter: @MAWhitlow.
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