It’s been quite a week for the Toronto Raptors. They have won their last five games in a row, completed a pair of gritty, close wins, and are now second in the Eastern Conference. They only trail the Detroit Pistons, who are on an 11-game heater and sit three games above Toronto in the top spot. Wild to think just under two years ago, the Pistons snapped their 20+ game losing streak against the Raptors, and now these two teams are first and second in the conference.
The Raptors are now 10-5 on their season, and if that wasn’t enough to excite you, they have a real shot at the NBA Cup for the first time. Since the beginning of the league’s in-season tournament, the Raptors have faded quickly from tournament contention. This year, though, things are different. Toronto is now 2-0 in the tournament and the last undefeated team in the East A Pool, having beaten Atlanta and Cleveland. These results indicate that the Raptors have a genuine chance of advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time.
While there are still two cup games for the Raptors to play — one Friday and one next Wednesday — the Raptors are in an ideal spot. They could clinch their quarterfinal berth as soon as Friday, and become the first team in the NBA to do so.
Between the Raptors and the quarterfinals are the 1-13 Washington Wizards and the 2-13 Indiana Pacers. According to the NBA, the Raptors clinch their spot in the knockout rounds with a win against Washington AND an Indiana loss. This scenario also eliminates the Pacers from Cup contention before they even play the Raptors next Wednesday.
What comes next after the group stage? If the Raptors make it through as the best team in their group OR one of the top-2 second-place teams, they will play their QF on either Tuesday, December 9 or Wednesday, December 10. The semifinals will be held in Las Vegas on December 13, and the finals in Las Vegas on December 16. Every game in these rounds, except for the potential final championship game, will count towards the teams’ regular-season record. If they lose the QF, they will be matched with another losing QF team to make up the regular-season game that was not scheduled.
To make things even better this week for the Raptors, their five-game winning streak could be lengthened due to their schedule in the next few weeks. They play the Wizards (1-13), Brooklyn Nets (2-12), Cleveland Cavaliers (0-2 against Toronto), Pacers (2-13), and Charlotte Hornets (4-11) for their next five games.
After playing their best 10-game stretch since 2020 and the days of the championship defence, the Raptors have a chance to improve that record.
It feels like a change of pace to be talking about the Raptors in a winning sense. It feels like a while since we’ve been here, even though it’s only been 4 years since the Raptors were truly contenders last. It’s still a little early to say they are fully contenders once again, but this is a fantastic start to the season. When you think about other NBA teams in rebuilds, it feels like their processes have taken much longer than the Raptors’ have.
It’s still early in the season, but the foundations of this team seem solid enough to sustain a winning record this year. Maybe even to win some extra hardware in the form of an NBA Cup.
