One month and exactly 18 games into the season, the Toronto Raptors find themselves sitting on an 11-7 record and a fifth-place seed in the East, a far cry from the 13-4, first-place juggernaut we saw at this point last season.
And yet it feels as if the 2015-16 Raptors are playing a lot better heading into December than the 2014-15 edition.
So what’s changed?
It’s simple, really: the schedule.
This season, Toronto have only played in the friendly confines of Air Canada Centre six times. By comparison, Last season’s team played 11 of its first 17 games at home before December.
Cliché as it may seem, going out on the road and learning how to win with a whole new group of guys appears to have solidified the Raptors’ trust in each other and help coach Dwane Casey figure out the rotations and lineups he likes in more hostile environments.
Even with the unfortunate Jonas Valanciunas injury the Raptors haven’t missed a beat, going 3-1 in the four games he’s missed. Could this team have bounced back as well as it has if the big man went down last season? Perhaps, but that was a club that didn’t appear to be as strong between the ears.
You may recall when DeMar DeRozan went down last season and, in the immediate aftermath, Toronto went 3-3, dropping a pair of games to the Cleveland Cavaliers and one to the Los Angeles Lakers.
But more important is how they lost, letting their defence slip and allowing 113 points per game, a far cry from the 97 points per game Toronto was giving up before DeRozan’s injury.
Before the Valanciunas injury this season, the Raptors were allowing teams to put up just 97.6 per game on them, and there hasn’t been a drop off with the defensive focus, as Toronto is allowing only 92 points per game even since the big Lithuanian went down.
Granted, the players on this year’s Raptors are much more defensive-oriented, but being able to stick to your principles when you’re down a key player is a telling sign that this team is better equipped to handle the ups-and-downs of the NBA’s 82-game schedule. And, if they make it, a playoff series.
Tonight the Raptors begin their first of three games in four nights. The team is in Atlanta to take on the Hawks, which marks the end a gruelling road schedule to start the season that will have seen Toronto play 13 of its first 19 games on the road.
Following Wednesday’s contest, the Raptors will return home for a lengthy six-game home stand. In total, the team will be at home in December in nine of the 15 games it will play, making for a nice change of pace from November.
An 11-7 record isn’t all that bad when you consider just how many road games the Raptors have already played. So be grateful for the early test. Without it, the team’s toughness may not have been forged as quickly as it has.