Toronto Raptors: Some mind-bending numbers from Toronto’s 15-game win streak

Since Jan. 12, Toronto leads the NBA in both field-goal percentage (50.4) and three-point percentage (40.6)

As critical a component as team defence is to winning games – it’s half the battle, literally – offence is also important. After all, it’s the other half. See how simple basketball can be?

Not all that surprising, but going 15-0 has seen Toronto post the best shooting numbers of any team since Jan. 12 – the Raptors are the only team holding a field-goal percentage greater than 50 since that date. Also, Toronto’s three-point conversion rate of 40.6 makes them the only team with a value greater than 40. Simply put, Nick Nurse’s team is on fire, offensively, all the while tormenting opponents on defence.

It hasn’t mattered who Nick Nurse puts on the court, every player in a Raptors uniform is playing at a high level. Take Matt Thomas for example – injuries played a part in Thomas seeing 22 minutes of action the last time Toronto faced Brooklyn. The sparingly used guard responded with 15 points, on 6-9 shooting, and six rebounds. Just one of many examples of how this team truly personifies the Next-Man-Up mindset. Every team preaches it, but few have executed at the level Toronto has in 2019-20.

At some point, the Raptors are going to lose again. And when they do, we’ll be sure to take it in stride and avoid any temptation to overreact. Parts of the game are inherently cyclical and making shots falls in that bucket. The rim and basket remain at 10 feet all year long, though, sometimes you’d swear things changed between games. How else can one explain the ebbs and flows associated with shooting a basketball? All I can say is, is going to take one hell of an effort on the part of an opposing team to beat this current version of the Toronto Raptors.

In all areas, the champs are simply torching the competition.