Toronto Raptors
Since they won their lone championship in 2019, the Toronto Raptors lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020 down in the NBA Bubble and then completely missed out on the playoffs last season during an injury-riddled year for the organization.
This season sort of feels like a redemption year for the Raptors and while they started the season off slow, Toronto battled their way out of the play-in region before the All-Star break and are still very much alive to avoid the play-in tournament, as they are one game behind the 6-seeded Cavaliers in the standings.
Pascal Siakam has continued to prove that he is a multidimensional offensive threat with the ball in his hands and first-time All-Star Fred VanVleet has been one of the better two-way guards when he is healthy.
The key for the Toronto Raptors the rest of this season is staying healthy and getting healthy in time for the playoffs/play-in tournament, as VanVleet has been dealing with a knee issue and OG Anunoby is currently out with a fractured finger.
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The Raptors have always been a tough team to face under head coach Nick Nurse as a result of how stifling their defense can be and if they are fully-healthy, this team has a chance to contend with anyone because of how strong their starting unit can be offensively.
Toronto’s five starters of Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam have combined to account for close to 70% of this Raptors team’s total scoring output on the season and Toronto is heavily reliant on getting the bulk of their scoring each and every game from these five guys since they rank dead-last in bench production this season.
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This Toronto Raptors franchise has championship DNA and with them being able to get hot offensively at any moment when they have their full starting five, they are definitely a team that others will not want to run into, as many in the Eastern Conference are hoping the Raptors will end up in the play-in tournament and wind up not making the actual playoff field this season.
