The Toronto Raptors have been a good team in the Eastern Conference for the last few years, but this year they have taken that next step forward.
Even though they lost on Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder they still have a record of 52-18 which gives them a 4.5 game cushion over the Boston Celtics for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
Patrick Patterson was asked about what was different about his old team before the game on Sunday and he said it was pretty simple.
“Drastically. The years I was here I think we were still stuck in that isolation basketball. ” he told Josh Lewenberg of TSN. “We had our moments of collectively sharing the ball… but I feel like now they've embraced that and it's been working.”
Before this season it was a lot of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan playing one on one hero ball and although that worked during the regular season it led to some problems when the team during the playoffs, which Patrick Patterson insinuated in his comment.
This year though they are playing as a unit, and seem to be getting contributions from pretty much everywhere. It doesn't matter if they start or come off the bench they are using good team ball to get it done.
Fred VanVleet has been one of those guys that have really stepped up. The team even seems to trust him down the stretch of games to take the big shot.
If at first you don't succeed…
Fred VanVleet! #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/pNR1gK9XDT
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2018
In overtime against the Dallas Mavericks, he hit the dagger on a wide-open three-pointer. Last year that shot would have probably been taken by DeRozan or Lowry.
If the Raptors can keep up this good teamwork, they look like the class of the Eastern Conference.
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