The Toronto Raptors rose from 11th in ESPN's power rankings to seventh, something that had center Serge Ibaka laughing at the ebb and flow of people's opinions after many discounted the Raptors as competition in the East at the start of the season. Since, the Raptors sit 1.5 games behind the lead at a strong 15-4 this season, good enough for the third-best record in the league.
“It's kinda funny because at this point I'm just laughing,” said Ibaka, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN. “My first year it's like, yeah, you say something back to them, but at this point I'm just laughing because we've been there before.”
Head coach Nick Nurse was informed of the rise in the rankings, to which he claims to know nothing about, answering with the best thanks, I guess? he could muster.
“I don't know and I'm not sure that I care… I don't know those things, I don't hear those things until now, but thank you for the bump up,” said Nurse.
“I don't think there's any chip on our shoulders. We're not trying to prove anybody wrong we're just trying to prove ourselves right. We're gonna go out, try to play ya to the best of our ability & figure out how to get the win. That's all we're trying to do, get results.”
Many doubted a core of veteran players could muster much without Kawhi Leonard after the Raptors earned their first NBA title, but Pascal Siakam's progress and an improved supporting cast have vastly proved naysayers wrong through the first quarter of the season. The Raptors also have the best record at home with an undefeated 9-0 this season, leaving no doubt that they're a team to be reckoned with after winning seven in a row coming into December.
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