Raptors Cage

Can the Raptors catch the Cavs?

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kyle-lowry

They might currently be sitting second in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall but the Toronto Raptors are still yet to convince the masses that they are going to be genuine contenders come the playoffs.

Despite the Canadian franchise’s impressive season so far, the likes of the Golden State Warriors, the LA Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs are all being tipped to have a much better chance than the Raptors in terms of challenging for the NBA championship.

Another one of those teams being backed to finish ahead of Toronto this season is the Canadian franchise’s Eastern Conference rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

If the Raptors can end the season ahead of LeBron James and his men, those betting odds could shift quite dramatically in favour of Toronto. The Raptors are currently just three games behind the Cavs in the overall Eastern Conference standings, over five games ahead of their nearest Atlantic Division challengers, the Boston Celtics.

But with time running out for Canada’s sole NBA franchise to claw back Cleveland, who themselves are at the time of writing priced at around 22/1 with 32Red Canada to go all the way this year, Toronto know they have plenty of work left to do if they want to catch up.

If they’re going to really convince people they have what is required to bring the NBA championship to Canada for the first time, the Raptors will need to ensure they don’t slip up over the next few months and put together the sort of form that could see them cut the gap between themselves and the Cavs.

Having gone 12-2 in a sensational January, February was less successful for Toronto, allowing Cleveland to put some room between themselves and a Raptors team they hold a 4-2 record over during the past couple of seasons. Indeed, the most recent game came in a 122-100 destruction at the start of January.

While it’s no surprise the Cavs have odds of 1/3 to top the Western Conference with 32Red and 10Bet, Toronto know it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they ended up having to take the longer route into the postseason. Elsewhere in the league, the Warriors are the undeniable betting favourites, tipped to now go on and defend the title they won last year.

With just five defeats to their name all season, Golden State are a perfect 24-0 at home, scoring a league-best 115.0 points per game and looking every bit title contenders from the start of the campaign up until now. With Stephen Curry producing some of the greatest individual performances we’ve seen in the modern game, ably assisted by a roster of players who have proven they know how to win, it’s hard to look beyond the reigning NBA champions in the upcoming playoffs.

That said, we all know anything can happen in the postseason and the Raptors will be one of a number of teams heading into the playoffs with real belief that they can upset the odds and compete with any team in the league on their day.

While much of the focus has been on DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry due to their respective points averages, 23.3 and 21, Toronto’s high level of performance this season has very much been a team effort. From the creativity and shooting of Jonas Valanciunas to the blocking and all-round physical presence of Bismack Biyombo, there hasn’t been an area of this team that hasn’t pulled its weight. The question is now whether they have that x-factor that it takes to win a championship.

Playoff Hopes

The playoffs have never been the happiest of hunting grounds for the Toronto Raptors, with their best finish coming back in 2000-01 when the franchise made it past the first round before being beaten 4-3 by the Philadelphia 76ers.

While they have reached the postseason two years in a row having topped the Atlantic Division, both journeys into the playoffs have failed to go beyond the first round, most recently in a humiliating defeat to Washington last year. But this is a very different team to the one that has failed to live up to the hype in previous years, and Toronto head coach Dwane Casey will feel as though he has all the tools he needs to deliver something special to these Raptors fans this season.

 

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