The Toronto Raptors continue to make significant noise in the young NBA season.
Toronto, who sit second in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the NBA with a 13-5 record, have been a pleasant surprise in the early portion of the 2025-26 campaign.
After losing 52 games in 2024-25 and 57 the year before, there wasn’t much optimism surrounding the Raptors going into this season with an appearance in the Play-In Tournament being the potential ceiling for the club, according to many pundits.
But the Raptors have looked like a completely different team this season under third-year head coach Darko Rajakovic and a healthy and seemingly highly motivated Brandon Ingram.
NBA: Cavaliers 99, Raptors 110Brandon Ingram scored 15 of his season-high 37 points in the third quarter, Scottie Barnes had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-99 on Monday night for their eighth straight win.
With a 110-99 victory over the talented Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, the third time they’ve defeated the team who won 64 games a season ago, the Raps have won eight straight contests, tying their third longest win streak in franchise history.
The Raptors’ longest win streaks came during the 2019-20 and 2017-18 seasons when they won 11 consecutive games.
The Raptors will look to make it nine straight on Wednesday night when they host the 2-15 Indiana Pacers in an NBA Cup group stage game. Coverage begins Wednesday at 7pm ET/4pm PT on TSN4, TSN and the TSN App.
Following their matchup against the lowly Pacers, the Raptors hit the road for games against the Charlotte Hornets (4-13) and New York Knicks (10-6) before returning to Toronto for a four-game homestand against the Portland Trail Blazers (8-10), Los Angeles Lakers (12-4), Hornets and Boston Celtics (9-8) next week.
Winning 13 of their first 18 games marks their best start since 2019-20, the season following their first championship in franchise history.
Season Record Through 18 Games End of Season Record
2025-26 13-5 -
2024-25 4-14 30-52
2023-24 8-10 25-57
2022-23 9-9 41-41
2021-22 8-10 48-34 (First Round)
2020-21 7-11 27-45
2019-20 14-4 53-19 (Second Round)
2018-19 14-4 58-24 (NBA Champions)
The 28-year-old Ingram, who scored a season-high 37 points against the Cavs on Monday night, has been a difference maker for the Raptors this season after being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of the trade deadline last season.
Ingram didn’t play a single game with the Raptors in 2024-25 due to an ankle injury, but signed a massive three-year, $120 million extension in February.
It appears the added rest plus change of scenery has helped considerably.
The Duke product is averaging 21.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists over 18 games, shooting 48.6 per cent from the floor.
Lewenberg: 'One man wrecking crew' Ingram carried Raps to win over CavsTSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg breaks down how Brandon Ingram was able to carry Toronto's offence in a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
“I don’t think one person in the locker room has talked about the streak, and I don’t think Darko will let that creep into our locker room,” Ingram told reporters after Monday’s win.
“We take it by the day. We know every day is an opportunity to get better, and we just worry about the next opponent.”
Ingram has looked healthy as the 2016 second-overall pick has dealt with numerous injuries over his career, playing 60 games or more just four times over nine seasons.
The rest of the Raptors’ core - Scottie Barnes (1.5 steals, 1.7 blocks per game), RJ Barrett (19.4 points per game on 50.6 per cent shooting) and Immanuel Quickly (6.1 assists per game) - have been healthy and effective as well.
Toronto’s supporting cast has contributed too, namely backup point guard Jamal Shead, who has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the NBA at 4.9. Over his last five games, Shead has 36 assists and just six turnovers.
Big man Sandro Mamukelashvili, who signed a two-year deal with the Raptors this off-season, is averaging 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 18.6 minutes of action behind starting centre Jakob Poeltl.
Here’s are some team stats that have led to the Toronto’s surprising start.
By The Numbers: Raptors’ Hot Start
Stat Raptors League Rank
Points Per Game 121 5th
Field Goal Percentage 50.3% Tied for 2nd
Three-Point Percentage 38.5% 3rd
Assists Per Game 30.4 Tied for 2nd
Rebounds Per Game 41.5 24th
Points Per Game Differential +7.5 4th
Points Allowed Per Game 113.4 7th
Field Goal Percentage Against 46 per cent 10th
With the 2025-26 season just over 20 per cent complete, it’s still too early to know if the Raptors are currently overachieving and are bound to come back to earth or if they’re a team that can truly compete for top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Still, this is a start that nobody saw coming, giving strong confidence to Raptors fans that playoff basketball will return to the Toronto this spring for the first time since 2022.