Roster - Toronto Raptors

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Where did THAT come from?

In the first four weeks of the season the Raptors had a total of four wins, good enough for last place in the Eastern Conference. Despite the seeming improvement of their roster from last season, Toronto was performing no better than they had last season when they had tied for last place in the East. The excitement that fans felt in the preseason after having acquired one of the best shooting guards in the league in Bradley Beal had quickly dissolved after this atrocious start to the season. GM CarlSpackler had commented that the normally polite-to-a-fault Canadian fans had taken to openly criticizing and insulting him when they would pass him on the street. He said he even had an entire plate of poutine dumped in his lap while eating at a local restaurant.

After week 5, it's a completely different story. The Raptors had five games on the schedule this week, four of which were against some of the top teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences. Most fans and pundits expected an 0-5 week from this team, or maybe at best 1-4.

The week began with an expected result, a loss against the league leading Cavaliers. But there were some signs of hope. The game was a tight battle throughout, with a typically strong performance from Bradley Beal (24 pts), as well as some solid play from Kelly Olynyk (22 points/ 13 rebounds), and an impressive 24 points in 22 minutes from Willy Hernangomez. Toronto led by two at halftime, and still led by two going into the fourth quarter. It went back and forth and the Raptors even had a chance to close out the Cavs but Crowder came up short in a couple attempts in the final minute. The game ended up tied at the end of regulation, but Toronto had nothing left in the tank. Lebron and the Cavs dominated the extra period and ended up winning by 12. So, while the outcome was discouraging, this one felt different. It felt like the Raptors might actually be competitive.

Game 2 was the one game of the week that people thought the Raptors could maybe possibly win. The opponent was the Blake Griffin-less Pacers. Despite playing without their star, Indiana took the lead in the first quarter. But the Raptors grabbed it in the second, taking a six point lead into halftime. After the 3rd they expanded the lead to 8. But as we've come to expect in 2k, anything can happen in the 4th. And sure enough, Indiana came back with a vengeance, closing the Raptors' lead to one point. But Toronto hung on long enough to eke out a 2-point win. Beal led the way for the Raptors with 29 points while Olynyk again had a strong outing with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Next up was the defending champs. The Spurs were playing without Embiid, Conley, and Beverley, so if there was any chance for the Raptors to take them down, this would be it. The game started off tight, but San Antonio pulled into the lead and were up by six at halftime. The Raptors must've gotten one hell of a speech from the coach at halftime because they came out on fire, dominating the Spurs with a 40-15 3rd quarter. And they managed to hold on through the 4th, finishing the game with a shocking 20 point win. Tyson Chandler had 27 points, 13 rebounds and 4 steals, and Rajon Rondo added 12 points to go with his 14 assists.

Game 4 looked to be another tough battle with Charlotte Hornets, who were coming into the game riding an 8-game winning streak. They had already beaten Toronto by 12 in week 1 with Kristaps being his usual impressive self. Week 5 was a very different story right out of the gate. The Raptors came out with a vengeance and dropped 42 points in the 1st quarter while holding Charlotte to just 17. There was no looking back at that point, and Toronto came away with a 26-point win, due largely to the performance of Willy Hernangomez and rest of the bench who contributed 65 of the Raptors' 116 points.

The final game of the week was against CarlSpackler's old team, the Sacramento Kings. The Kings haven't struggled without him and Sacramento fans didn't even seem to remember, much less miss, their old GM. But Spackler was pleased to see his new team come into the game brimming with confidence, and not all all intimidated by the team who'd made it to last year's Western Conference Finals. This one was tightly contested throughout, but the Raptors again managed to come out on top thanks to their big men (Chandler, Olynyk, and Hernangomez).

That makes it four straight wins for the Raptors, bringing their grand total to 8. They've now moved from the Eastern Conference basement to...a few steps up from the basement. It was a very encouraging, and much needed boost of confidence for Toronto, but they're going to have their work cut out for them in week 6. They'll be without Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler, both of whom have played critical roles in this past week's wins. They're hoping they can manage to maintain some momentum, but we'll have to wait and see.

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