If you are a fan of basketball you might be looking at watching a long playoff season.
While most years it seems the Toronto Raptors are among the National Basketball Association’s best, this year they truly are amongst the elite of the NBA.
The Raptors are currently the best team in the Eastern Conference, and as every day goes by they pull further and further away from those around them.
In their last 20 games the Raptors sport a record of 18-2, with their two losses coming by a combined ten points.
They also currently hold the NBA’s best mark for home record.
A fact that could prove costly for the rest of the NBA.
The emergence of the Raptors has also meant the emergence of Toronto as one of the NBA’s best basketball markets.
After years of futility, the Raptors’ improvement on the court has resulted in a sold out building every night.
That sold out building has resulted in opposing teams commenting that Toronto is quickly becoming one of the toughest buildings to play in in the NBA.
Not bad considering the Raptors have been excellent at home this season, and figure to easily win the East, therefore having home court advantage all the way until the finals.
The Raptors currently lead the Eastern Conference by five games, with everyone’s favourite pick, the Cleveland Cavaliers sitting 11 games back of the Raptors for third.
This team features mainstays Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Lowry, Demar DeRozan, and head coach Dwayne Casey.
And sure those four have been amongst the NBA’s top teams over the past five years, but they also fell short in the playoffs.
This time it feels different.
The Raptors have surrounded their mainstays with a number of important pieces, including C.J. Miles, Serge Ibaka, Fred Van Vleet, Pascal Siakam, and Jacob Poeltl.
Of course, they also have trusty returning bench players who have also improved this team including Delon Wright and Norman Powell.
Not only do the Raptors contain one of the best backcourts in the NBA in DeRozan and Lowry, both all stars, but their bench is also arguably the NBA’s best.
It is actually the bench that has been the most important part of the Raptors team this season.
The Raptors possess a starting lineup that could compete with the NBA’s best, but it is their bench that pushes them ahead of most teams.
When the bench hits the floor you can be sure that they will nearly always outscore the opposition.
Obviously an important stat in any sport, but when your starting five can keep up with the best and the bench can come on and outscore the other teams’ bench, good things will happen.
This Raptors team has shown all season long that their bench is arguably the best and their players have improved.
This is a scary team.
Now all they need to do is prove it in the playoffs.
