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Toronto just won 4-of-5 on the road for the first time in ages and could have won them all, losing only a close one in Philadelphia.
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Published Nov 16, 2025 • 4 minute read
Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett
Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) brings the ball up court in front of Indiana Pacers forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis on Saturday. Photo by AJ Mast /The Associated Press
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It’s a little strange seeing the Toronto Raptors in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and with wins in seven of eight games, even if it’s only mid-November.
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Scottie Barnes was about midway through a year that would see him named NBA rookie of the year, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby were still Raptors and Goran Dragic kind of was the last time Toronto had a team three games above .500. That group finished with 48 wins, then Toronto dipped to 41, axed Nick Nurse, and combined for 55 victories in two rebuilding seasons under Darko Rajakovic before Masai Ujiri was sent packing and this unlikely ascent began.
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Toronto has averaged 118.2 points per 100 possessions through 13 games, tying for fifth-best in the NBA. Who are they tied with? Only some team in Oklahoma City that happens to be the class of basketball, with a 13-1 record and some shiny new championship rings on their mantles. They’ve also been pretty decent defensively, ranking 13th entering Sunday, with nearly identical numbers to the 10-4 Los Angeles Lakers.
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Toronto just won 4-of-5 on the road for the first time in ages and could have won them all, losing only a close one in Philadelphia.
EASY PICKINGS ON THE WAY
Impressive stuff and even moreso when the team’s strength of schedule is taken into consideration. Toronto’s had one of the toughest starts to the season based on the quality of its opponents, and only seven teams face weaker competition the rest of the way, according to tankathon.com.
The shift is imminent, starting Monday, when the Raptors host a 3-8 Charlotte team that has a fantastic rookie in Kon Knueppel and a couple of other impact first-year players, but is waiting to have all of them and stars LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller healthy at the same time.
The Raptors then oddly head back to Philadelphia for a rematch, before hosting Washington and Brooklyn (a combined 2-22 entering Sunday), then a Cleveland team that will be smarting from Thursday’s loss, one of Toronto’s most impressive games of the season. After that, it’s the dregs again, 1-12 Indiana, and another game against the Hornets, this time in North Carolina.
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The Raptors already got a taste of the bottom dwellers, Brooklyn and Indiana and mostly had their way with them when trying their hardest (the Raptors played down to the Nets a bit). Now they have a chance to feast and be as high as second in the conference behind only surprising Detroit by the end of this month.
Of course they’ll have to take care of Charlotte first on Monday in a classic “trap” game (first one back from a long trip, sometimes made tougher if the team comes in confidently as the Raptors will).
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LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE?
It will be interesting to see if Rajakovic keeps his starting five intact, or makes a change to try to ward off the continuously slow starts. The trend this season, when the team has been at full strength, has been unimpressive early stretches that vanish in an instant as soon as the head coach turns to backup point guard Jamal Shead, big man Sandro Mamukelashvili, in particular, but also other Raptors reserves. Rajakovic has not favoured hockey-style five-man line changes, but rather has mixed a starter or two with three or four reserves and that plan has worked well for the Raptors.
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Toronto’s starters (Jakob Poeltl, Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley) are actually a net negative (-1.3 points per 100 possessions) in 118 minutes, while swapping rookie Collin Murray-Boyles for Poeltl hasn’t worked (-20 net rating) putting in Mamukelashvili for Poeltl has (+25.7 net rating), though that group has only played 15 minutes together.
It’s easier to analyze the team’s three-man groups as they’ve been together a lot more minutes than the full five-man or even four-man groups.
Toronto has 10 three-man lineups with at least 100 minutes together this season. The Ingram-Poeltl-Quickley combination has been the most dominant, and Ingram-Barrett-Barnes the worst of that group, which is odd, since Barnes has been one of the best players in the NBA so far.
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As well, the four Raptors with the best net rating so far are all reserves (led by Jamison Battle in limited minutes, followed by Gradey Dick, Mamukelashvili and Jamal Shead, probably the most surprisingly excellent Raptor so far).
In terms of on/off stats, Battle is tops, with Toronto 19 points per 100 possessions better with the elite shooter on the floor than off. Ingram’s next at +9.7, Barnes is +9.4, and then there’s a big drop to Dick at +2.8 and Barrett and Shead at +2.7 each.
Rajakovic could make a change to the starters to try to find more balance, with Barrett being the only real option to move to the bench (Poeltl is irreplaceable, Barnes is the best player, Ingram the best player and Quickley the best shooter on the team and only experienced point guard). Dick could swap places with Barrett, giving the team a more feared outside threat that will give them more spacing, but they’d lose Barrett’s fearless finishing and he’s a better rebounder and defender than Dick.
Murray-Boyles could be an option too, he’s going to be a starter one day so why not just do it now? Well, even though he’s had surprising success on three-point shooting so far, he’s far from a proven marksman and isn’t going to put the ball on the floor and attack the hoop the way Barrett or Dick can at this point. Plus, the team already has a significant logjam at shooting guard. Murray-Boyles for Barrett would make that issue even worse.
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