Raptors: Five takeaways, including time to start C.J.?

The Toronto Raptors went 3-0 over the past week and will head into the All-Star break winners of seven straight. Here are this week’s key takeaways.

Outscoring you

The Toronto Raptors have a record of 22-11 when opponents score above 100 points. While that is slightly worse than their overall win percentage of 71.9-percent, it is among the best in the league and far better than anyone in the East.

The only other team in the Eastern Conference with a record above .500 in such games, is the Cleveland Cavaliers, with a record of 22-20, five full games worse than the Raptors. As a whole the NBA only has four teams with the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets joining from the Western Conference. The Raptors are in good company with this group, perhaps the four largest contenders in the entire NBA.

This statistic bolds particularly well as the Raptors get ready for the playoffs. 28 of 30 NBA teams average at least 100 points per game, and no matter how good a teams’ defense is, they won’t be able to keep most playoff squads under 100 consistently. That means you need to be able to outscore opponents, which the Raptors have been able to do.

This week the Raptors went 2-0 when opponents scored greater than 100, only improving on their impressive record.