All season long, several experts have refused to acknowledge the Toronto Raptors as legitimate title contenders despite being the defending champions. However, if head coach Nick Nurse is concerned, he's not bothered one bit.

Per Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Nurse was asked if he's concerned that basketball analysts are not convinced that they can successfully defend their title this year.

“Yeah, maybe,” Nick Nurse said of the doubts about the Raptors.”I don't think anybody's going to pay much attention, they don't ever seem to, but it's OK.

“Seriously man, we love to play the games and we like to compete, we know we're tough to beat, we really do, and I think there's a ceiling we can get to yet.”

Nurse's comments came in after the Raptors put on a great performance over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. It was a close game throughout, but the Raps put on their best defensive stance in the last few minutes to get the convincing 107-92 victory.

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A win over the Lakers is big for any team. After all, the LeBron James-led crew is one of the top favorites to win the title this year.

While Nurse is happy about the victory, he's more worried about the their lackluster shooting from the field after making just 41.7 percent of their shots.

“I think I remember one timeout looking down, coming out sometime in the second quarter, and I looked down and I said, ‘Jeez, we're shooting 30% and we're winning,'” the Raptors coach added. “And that's kinda what good defense is supposed to do, get you through some of those moments.”

From the looks of it, Nurse and the Raptors are comfortable in their own skin. They know what they are capable of and the mission is to improve every single day.