The Toronto Raptors are the hottest team in the NBA right now. The defending NBA champions have not lost a game since Jan. 12, when they fell by one point to the San Antonio Spurs. Their 15-game winning streak is currently the longest in the association, not in the league despite losing NBA Finals’ MVP Kawhi Leonard and defensive stalwart Danny Green, the Raptors are still very much in the running for a back-to-back trip to the NBA Finals. Their average margin of victory during the streak is 10.6 points. They won one game by 29, and another by 27. Two wins came by a single point, but those were the only ones decided by a single possession. Four of the six Toronto players averaging double digits in points have missed at least one game during the streak. Norman Powell has sat the last five with a broken hand, while Fred VanVleet has missed two games during the streak and Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka one each. The Raptors are less than halfway to the 33 consecutive games the Lakers won during the 1971-72 season. Only the Toronto Raptors could be both the defending NBA champions and the most overlooked team in the league mere months later. After losing Kawhi Leonard in free agency, talking heads expected the Raptors to fall apartand make their way to their rightful spot in the lottery.
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