Paul Jones

Paul Jones is the voice of the Raptors on the FAN 590 and writes regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

The last time the Raptors were this hot after starting the season poorly they ended up winning their division. Hmmm…

The Raptors look to keep things rolling Friday night in Philadelphia and for those of you who are looking forward to seeing Allen Iverson, don't count on it. The Answer is being bothered by a nagging knee injury and it is a game-time decision as to whether he suits up and plays or not.

The chance to play against Iverson is not lost on some of the players who watched him do his thing before they got into the league, and it was at a time when the NBA was growing globally. AI's impact reached beyond cultural and geographical borders not just in the USA, but worldwide.

At practice this morning, my broadcast partner Eric Smith spoke to Jose Calderon about tonight's game and Iverson leaving an imprint on people across the pond in Spain.

I've said this before and I will say it again. Yes, he's older, not as spry as he once was, and although he may not like to practice, AI plays hard when the lights come on.

Since we're talking about durability here, there is also no chance that Iverson actually stands at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds. Trust me, that is my height and weight and I've stood beside the man to interview him and all of those digits are a stretch.

One number that is not a concoction is the lifetime 29.9 points per game average against Toronto, the highest of any opposing player, on an impressive list that features: Kobe Bryant (2), LeBron James (3), Dwyane Wade (4), and Shaquille O'Neal (5). For those Raptor fans who are saying, "great... another guy who lights us up," don't worry because Toronto is not alone. AI has the fifth-highest scoring average in NBA history. Hey, he's an equal-opportunity scorer.

Regardless of whether Iverson is a go or not tonight, Toronto has to keep playing good defence the way they have over the past 16-game stretch, allowing opponents only 43.6 per cent from the floor and keeping them under 100 points with a scoring average of 97.7 points per game. The Sixers are the NBA's second-highest scoring team when it comes to fast-break points so the transition defence has to be sharp against an athletic bunch that can score quickly.

So while we are on the subject of numbers, here are a few, after what was listed above, that will cheer up Raptor fans. It's not just winning seven of their past eight, but if you check a little closer as John Rusin, the associate producer and stat man during the Raptors TV broadcast, has been doing, things are looking up. Since Dec. 4, Toronto is tied with the New York Knicks for the fifth-best record in the NBA at 11-5. The only teams ahead of them are the big boys: Cleveland (15-4), L.A. Lakers (14-4), Boston (10-4) and San Antonio (12-5).

This is something that is not new to Raptor followers who remember the same type of thing happening in 2006-07, the season Toronto won the Atlantic Division. Not saying it will be the case this season that they win the division, but some of the parallels trending toward a good record are similar.

With Toronto sitting at 7-15 in December of 2006, they went 40-22 to finish the season with only four teams (Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Detroit) winning more games from that point. Dallas had the NBA's best record but were KO'ed by Golden State in the first round. Phoenix made it to the conference finals where they lost to the Spurs, who eventually won it all over Detroit. In fact the Pistons were the only team in the East to win more games than the Raptors from the middle of December of '06.

Can it happen again? To that extent, personally I don't think so, but who knows? However, there is something to be said about the schedule turning and yielding more days off and practice time.

But every game is a test and while Toronto has played some tough teams recently, they have to come out and try to knock the Sixers out early and take advantage of a group that is currently struggling. No time to play down to the competition

So tell me, is there a town that is a more passionate sports town than Philadelphia? Not sure but it's tough to find a place where they cheer their heroes louder and boo their "bums" more vociferously than the City of Brotherly Love.

Raptors assistant coach Marc Iavaroni smiled when I mentioned that notion to him. Iavaroni, who was a member of the 76ers squad with Julius (Dr. J) Erving and started as a rookie on that championship squad in the 1982-83 season, smiled and nodded his head.

"Philadelphia is a working-class town," said Iavaroni. "It's a town with knowledgeable sports fans. They do appreciate hard work. I was always fine here as I could miss some shots and have some off-nights but people were kind to me because I worked hard. If you do that in this town, they'll never get on you."