Five biggest games left on the Toronto Raptors’ schedule

2. @ Indiana Pacers – Friday, February 7

This could feel like a strange choice, but hear me out. Firstly, the Indiana Pacers are a solid team moving their way up the standings in the Eastern Conference. Currently, they sit with a record of 30-16, sitting in the fifth seed just ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Every game against an Eastern Conference playoff foe means everything towards the standings. All interested parties are aiming for the coveted second seed, giving them a fairly favourable matchup against, either, the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, or even someone as far down as the Chicago Bulls.

Plus, the second seed means you’ll avoid the Milwaukee Bucks – the best team in the NBA – for as long as possible. That means a lot.

But, what makes this game so interesting is that it takes place a day after the NBA trade deadline on February 7. That means we could be looking at a completely different Toronto Raptors team than the one that’ll take on the Indiana Pacers just two days earlier.

Could the Raptors make a big deadline move just like last year?

Who knows? But it’s certainly possible. The Raptors should consider themselves contenders this year, and adding another piece would solidify that. Once this game takes place, we’ll know exactly what the new-look roster looks like – if it even is a new-look roster.