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The Toronto Raptors have all the attention of the NBA.
The franchise and fan base that channeled insecurity sometimes justified on their place in the league-led galaxy into a code of conduct "We North" are no longer trapped in a central seat , a booming economy when the rest of the league flies private.
Their good players remain. They signed contracts with free agents, and even though hell literally froze when they organized the NBA All-Star Game a few years ago, everyone had fun. All key influencers of the US national media have headed north to write favorable articles.
LeBron James likes it here, and not just because of his 10-game playoff streak on this side of the House. Los Angeles is at home, but during the TIFF format, he has crossed the city often enough to suggest that he have us. Charles Barkley shouts at us on TNT.
But the Raptors are no longer just a beautiful story. They are a factor. A barrier. A team you have to count on. At 18-4, they have the best record of the NBA, three games in the closest competition, and they do not even think they played very well.
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Thursday night, the only NBA game in the Eastern Time Zone will feature Toronto and two-time defending champion, Golden State Warriors, the TNT brand match broadcast Thursday night.
They can not hide and they will not be taken lightly.
"At the moment, they are the best and I expect them to be there all season," Golden State Warriors right-handed shooter Klay Thompson told reporters on Monday. Oakland, while the Warriors were preparing to head for a five-game road trip that starts in Toronto at Scotiabank. "They have a lot of length and so many two-way players. Obviously kawhi [Leonard] is back and playing at a MVP level. Kyle Lowry is a great leader, as well as a bulldog. So, it's going to be a good test for us. Who knows, this could be a preview of June. They have something really special in Canada right now. "
So, with everyone watching, what are the Raptors going to do?
It's a remarkable turnaround. The last time the Raptors got the attention of the NBA, they were at the forefront of the Eastern Conference favorites and were folded in four parts by James and his very unstoppable Cleveland Cavaliers. After a five-year spell that saved Toronto from the edge of the league, the spotlight was not enough. The president of the Raptors team, Masai Ujiri, had worked hard to make the game relevant and important. Something serious was therefore transformed into a line of force – LeBronto – in the space of four discouraging parts.
The rise of the Raptors has far exceeded the limits with the emergence of the Warriors as an NBA team for ages, but when the Warriors have accumulated three titles and records of absolute dominance, all Raptors have to prove that was monstrous existential fighting. : "If a team is not really worthy of a championship, does it even exist? Is existence worth it without aspirations to the championship? '
For Ujiri, the answer was no, no.
That's how we got here. The sadness against Cleveland prompted Ujiri to fire former head coach Dwane Casey to hire his badistant, Nick Nurse, and then press the Raptors' biggest deal: send DeMar DeRozan (and Jakob Poeltl) to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
The returns were instantaneous. On the floor, the Raptors were the star of the off season. probably the biggest story of the NBA outside James signing with the Lakers. On the ground, the new raptors have exceeded the most reasonable expectations and are convinced that they have not yet reached their goal.
"It's a lot of things, do you know what I mean? I just do not want to touch them all yet, "Leonard told the Raptors practice center on Wednesday. "But I just feel we can still improve. I think we play as a team and everything else, but I feel we still have room for improvement … it's not even the record. It's our way of playing and wanting to play consistently. We have 15 points and the teams are coming back and we are 15 points behind. Just things like that, you just have to be able to play consistently. The recording does not show that, but once you're part of a team, you can get an idea. "
Donnovan Bennett and JD Bunkis talk about everything the Toronto Raptors have to offer and train fans in the NBA with news, badysis and interviews.
Leonard has won an NBA title and has competed in two NBA Finals, just like Green, and this seems to be the standard against which he stands as well as his new team. A season of 60 wins is good, but it's the 16 series wins that matter.
So when he says he did not move to line up with Kevin Durant and the Warriors, you tend to believe him.
"It's just another game to build on and improve on," said Leonard. "Challenge these guys, score goals, defend, as we do every night. It's a long road.
But for the Raptors, the road to the Promised Land – a date in June against (presumably) the Warriors must start somewhere.
Even if this version of the Warriors seems relatively vulnerable – they are 5 to 5 in the 10 games, Steph Curry missed a groin injury and tensions in the locker room have sometimes invaded the public sphere – they are still the Warriors . With Curry and Draymond Green about to return, they will be back to the group that shaped modern basketball with its pace, three-point shots, movement and freedom.
Like many teams, the Raptors were badembled with the intent of the Warriors – with a focus on long and versatile athletes who are able to change positions in defense, play and score in an offensive manner.
But everyone has a plan – as Mike Tyson said – until they are hit in the face and the Warriors are still throwing bombs. Before Curry got hurt, they had 10-1 and drove.
"People are trying to do what they do, but no one is doing it like them," said Nurse. "They always crush you with that 30 feet, then another … that takes away [the spirit] from you, the discouragement of playing so loudly and so well and you turn around and they throw in another 30 feet.
"You can see all the teams shaking their heads as if they had just been punched and that they were trying to stay in the fight," said Nurse. "I hope mentally, we'll be strong enough to handle that because it's coming."
The way raptors treat it can give an idea of the orientation of raptors.
It's a group that never had a collective experience when it was about a quarter of the season and the league gave the Raptors a dress rehearsal of what it might look like in June.
The NBA will monitor the situation and the Raptors would be well advised to use every opportunity to solve the problem.
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