Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is rising/falling after week three?

Week Three is coming to a close and the Toronto Raptors own the best record in the NBA at 11-1, but how did each player fare individually? We take a look at a couple of players with Stock Up, Stock Down.

I can’t believe it’s this time already! Since we last talked, the Toronto Raptors have continued to improve their record and now sit atop the NBA. After a long waited week, it’s now officially time for episode three of Stock Up, Stock Down.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’, ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ (yes, I’m on that boat.), ‘Toy Story 3’, all great third installments of historic franchises. And now, this.

The Raptors headed out west for a four-game road trip facing the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, and Sacramento Kings. Expectations were understandably high heading in, Toronto was 7-1 and looking like one of the top teams in the whole league after a franchise-best start.

Well, not much has changed in that regard. The Raptors went 4-0 out west, sweeping a road trip of four games or more for the first time in franchise history.

It started with a sloppy, ugly win on Friday night in Phoenix. Toronto was out-rebounded by 19 and shot poorly the whole night but came away with the win. As disjointed as it was – it’s always promising when a team can win in a variety of ways. That was evident in the Sunday night rout of LeBron’s Lakers. Serge Ibaka stole the show with a career-high 34 points – and yes, he does feature for the third week running. Oh, and Kawhi didn’t play.

The week was rounded out with wins in Utah (without Kawhi) and Sacramento. There’s a lot to unravel this week, starting with an unfortunate injury that precedes someone losing stock. Not fun.