Toronto Raptors:
They won’t be sitting here next week after two losses which were winnable games. Still, much like Pascal Siakam has put the league on notice he is coming for the Most Improved Player award the Raptors sent a similar missive by sweeping a four game Western Conference road trip including the ever dangerous back to back set with the second night in Utah.
The scary part about this squad (which week five punctuated) is they are still a work in progress. Kawhi Leonard is reminding NBA fans of what they missed last season and yet still isn’t 100 percent.
As mentioned Toronto won’t retain my top spot in week five, but they won’t drop far based on one very interesting trend. Four squads have beat the Raptors and three of those lost their next game. Pistons should break this trend as they haven’t played since the Toronto buzzer beater. Plus they’ll be on five days rest facing the lowly Cavaliers next. The moral of his story is you can beat the Raptors, but it will take a top-notch performance including aggressive defense, high octane efficient offense and your squad will be spent for the next few days.
Factors:
Offensive Rating: 3rd
Defensive Rating: 8th
Net Differential: 3rd
Offensive field goal efficiency: 49.2 percent (2nd)
Opponent field goal efficiency: 43.5 percent (5th)
Win/Loss: Wins versus Jazz, Kings and Knicks (Utah on second night of back to back)
Record: 12-1
Injuries:Factors: Leonard missed Jazz game and Powell played 13 seconds prior to an injury.