5 Reasons why the Toronto Raptors are a legitimate title contender

With a 121-119 win in overtime over the Detroit Pistons today, the Toronto Raptors have become the first team to clinch a Playoff berth in the NBA. With a 47-17 record and a win percentage of 73.4%, the Raptors are at least two games ahead of the rest of the Eastern Conference teams.

While the Raptors have been quite successful in the regular season in the past few seasons, their level of play this season seems to be on a whole new level. They rank 3rd in defensive rating (102.5), 4th in offensive rating (110.8) and have an 8.3 net rating per 100 possessions - good for 3rd best in the league.

These figures are significant because the Raptors are now the only team other than the Warriors to rank in the top 5 of all 3 efficiency rankings. With the Cleveland Cavaliers slipping down a notch after the Kyrie Irving trade this offseason, the Raptors have emerged as the likeliest team to emerge from the Eastern Conference - given the evidence that the regular season has yielded so far.

Here are the 5 reasons why the Raptors should now be counted as legitimate title contenders:

#5 Interior Dominance

Pascal Siakam and Jonas Valanciunas

The Raptors' frontcourt is one of the best in the NBA. Although they don't have a bonafide star, Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poetl, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka are four above-average players putting up solid numbers.

Jonas Valanciunas is averaging career-highs in points and rebounds in per-36 numbers (he's only playing 22.4 minutes a night). He has also added a 3-point shot (albeit that he rarely uses) to average 44.6% on 0.9 attempts per game.

Sophomores Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam have emerged as solid defensive players who could get up to 20 minutes every night.

Serge Ibaka, while no longer the two-way force that he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, is still a valuable presence on both ends of the court. His on-ball defense, shot-blocking threat, and catch-and-shoot threat makes him a dynamic third option for the team.

Together, the Raptors frontcourt, while not blowing oppositions out every night, are a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court. They average 48.3 points in the paint per game - the best figure for any Eastern Conference team.

#4 Defence

The Raptors have done well to add some defensive steel to their play this season. Rookie small forward OG Anunoby, in particular, has done solidly in his role as a primarily defensive stopper. His whopping wingspan of 7'6" has helped him harass most perimeter stars that the Raptors have faced so far - MVP frontrunner James Harden only shot 8-25 when Toronto beat Houston early on in the season with the rookie guarding him.

Toronto has 3 top-20 players in defensive rating (Anunoby, point guard Delon Wright and Pascal Siakam).The whole team has bought into a defensive ideology, which has, in turn, enabled them to become a better team in transition defense - they now give up only 1.03 points per transition opportunity, as compared to 1.31 last season.

#3 Bench Play

VanVleet steals the ball from Spencer Dinwiddie

The Raptors have what may be the deepest and most functional bench units in all of the NBA. Delon Wright is a pesky defender at the point guard position, while Fred Van Vleet is one of the best two-way players off the bench in the entire league (he owns a staggering net rating of +14.2, with a defensive rating of 97.3); his handles are right up there with the elite in the league.

Norman Powell and CJ Miles are valuable 3-and-D contributors off the bench who can bolster the Raptors at any given point in the game with their hustle and volume 3-point shooting.

Dwane Casey has used Jakob Poetl and Pascal Siakam as defensive options at the 4 and 5 positions with resounding success this season. All taken together, Toronto can field up to 11 players in every single Playoff game without any noticeable drop-off in production.

#2 Ball movement

The Toronto Raptors have discarded their iso ball style of offense from recent seasons in favour of a more selfless style of offense. They rank 7th in the league in assists per game as a team with an average of 23.8, and yet they choose their passes and plays well enough to rank 4th in the league in turnover percentage (13%) and 1st among playoff teams in the East.

With the addition of CJ Miles over the summer, the Raptors have improved their offense from 3-point territory this season. They are also less reliant on the pick-and-roll than in seasons past, and they have gone from dead last in the league in assisted field goals to a more respectable 18th.

Expect these offensive tweaks to make a difference for the Raptors, come Playoff time.

#1 DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry

Lowry and DeRozan arrive at the Staples Center with Steph Curry for

the All-Star

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Toronto's All-Star backcourt duo is in rude health. While Kyle Lowry is averaging a 5-year low in points per game, this could be attributed to him playing 5 minutes per game less than last year. He is also playing exquisite on-ball defense and is averaging a career-high in rebounds per game - a stupendous achievement considering that he's a 32-year-old 6'0" player.

But Toronto's franchise player and de facto first option on offense is a certain DeMar DeRozan, who is the highest-scoring player in the Raptors' franchise history. DeRozan has reinvented his game to now include a reliable 3-point shot - he is now taking a career-high 3.6 attempts per game from downtown, while cutting down on his inefficient contested mid-range jumpers by 2.5 attempts per game.

With an increase in scoring options around him, DeRozan is also dishing the ball at a career high of 5.2 assists per game. As far as clutch scoring goes, DeRozan is right up there with the elite players of the league, and is capable of leading the Raptors past any team at money time.