Raptors 2020-21 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions

The Toronto Raptors' title defense season left plenty to be desired and little to regret. 

Faced with the departures of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, Toronto looked for a holistic approach to replace the duo and landed on Stanley Johnson as well as bigger roles for OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet. That was enough to earn the Raptors an Atlantic Division title, but the club was bounced in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Boston Celtics in seven games. 

The club simply wasn't good enough to go any further without Leonard on board. As the 2020-21 season begins, it will be up to Toronto and reigning head coach of the year Nick Nurse to prove it's learned how to navigate a deep run with what it does have. 

General manager Bobby Webster retained VanVleet in free agency and drafted point guard Malachi Flynn in November. After winning the Atlantic six times in the last seven years, the Raptors' expectations have exploded.

Here's what they'll face in the coming months as they try to meet them. 

2020-21 Raptors Schedule Details

Season Opener: December 23 vs. New Orleans Pelicans

Championship Odds: +2200 (via FanDuel)

First-Half Schedule: NBA.com

Top Matchups

Milwaukee Bucks (Jan. 27, Feb. 16, Feb. 18)

The Raptors faced the Milwaukee Bucks three times last year, winning just one contest—a 114-106 victory in the Walt Disney World Resort bubble in Orlando, Florida. They'll need to do better in 2020-21. 

Few teams are capable of serving as measuring sticks for Toronto, but the Bucks absolutely qualify. The Raptors being forced to practice guarding the back-to-back reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo could prove vital in a postseason series.

If Toronto is going to march back to the NBA Finals, the Bucks will be in their way somehow. Proving it can consistently defeat Milwaukee—without two blowout losses along the way—may determine just how far it will go this season.

If nothing else, the matchup will pit two of the NBA's top teams against each other in a marquee series that's sure to draw the league's attention from start to finish. 

Miami Heat (Jan. 22, Feb. 24)

The Miami Heat may be the biggest threat to any Eastern Conference team with title aspirations. It's also another one of the teams the Raptors struggled most with last season—falling twice in three games.

Miami seemingly only got stronger as the year went on thanks to Jimmy Butler's elite skills and Bam Adebayo's rapid development, and it enters the 2020-21 campaign looking to prove its trip to the NBA Finals last season wasn't a fluke.

One of the ways it can do so is by taking down another conference contender like the Raptors. 

That will be the challenge for Toronto. If it can win a season series against a team that gave it fits all last year, it will go a long way towards confirming their status as a legitimate contender. 

If Toronto continues to struggle, it may be a sign that the Raptors need to make some adjustments—personnel or otherwise—before it can take another long postseason run. 

Season Forecast

Any expectations eased by the departure of Leonard were ratcheted back up by the improvements from Anunoby and VanVleet last year. 

The championship hangover has more than dissipated, and it's time to learn if Toronto has the pieces in place to make another run or if it needs to make some major adjustments in order to so. 

As much as Leonard's one year in Toronto put enormous pressure on the organization to win as quickly as possible, the 2020-21 season will show if the team constructed as is can get back to the Finals. More than anything, this will be the season that shows Raptors fans what they can expect for the next few seasons. 

Early round playoff exits and winning division titles no longer cut it. Toronto has raised the bar too high in previous years. Fortunately, the club has enough assets to make a few in-season maneuvers should Nurse and team president Masai Ujiri decide they're close enough to contend. 

Expect the Raptors to walk that line all season and put their front office in a position to determine how to proceed.

This will be another promising year of basketball in Toronto that will ultimately be remembered by whether it wins the conference. 

Record Prediction: 50-22 

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