With the postseason right around the corner, many questions await Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors. What are the three most pressing right now?
The year is 2019, and King James, along with his pack of Cavalier hounds, are no longer blocking the Toronto Raptors road to the NBA Finals.
At this point in the season — less than 10 games remaining in the Raptors’ case — playoff fever really starts to sink in. Toronto has essentially locked into the number two seed, and everyone is now just waiting for the playoffs to start.
LeBron going west vacated the conference’s Iron Throne which, in turn, started an arms race in the Eastern Conference. Instead of James punching his ticket to yet another championship appearance, this year’s representative could be one of these three teams: the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, or Philadelphia 76ers.
Those three teams have set themselves apart from the rest in terms of the Eastern Conference. Those three teams need to be considered significant favorites.
Ok, there’s a fourth team, that being, of course, the Boston Celtics, coached by Pete Buttigieg’s doppelganger. The Celtics remain in the mix as a dysfunctional mess still plenty capable of shattering playoff hopes if they ever could just hug each other and put their differences aside.
Ultimately, if Toronto is to advance to (and win) its first NBA championship, it’ll need to play its best brand of basketball. What exactly would that look like, you ask? Here are three questions the team (and its fans) must consider heading into the 2018-19 postseason.