Welcome to the second quarter of the season!

Blowing the lead in Charlotte on Saturday, then getting blown out in New York on Sunday should not change your opinion on how the Raptors performed over the first 21 games. By winning 2 of every 3 games and getting the 14th victory two months (or 27 games) earlier than last year, Toronto’s season has been an overwhelming success so far.

In winning nine games in a row, and sweeping the season series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Raptors put the Eastern Conference on notice that they plan on playing games past April.

Now that they’ve exceeded expectations, the Raptors face a new challenge as they embark on the second quarter of the season: managing those expectations. Toronto has done a great job of taking care of business. Whether it’s defeating lottery-bound teams like Washington, Brooklyn, and Indiana, they’ve also capitalized on injury-depleted teams like Cleveland, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.

Toronto can no longer catch teams by surprise. With 4 hungry opponents coming to town, will the Raptors be able to get back to their winning ways?

December 2 vs. Portland Trailblazers

As far as the first quarter of the season goes, there may not be any team that’s shocked more fans than the Portland Trailblazers. With all due respect to the Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, and even these Toronto Raptors, not a single team in the NBA can hold a light to Portland’s biggest accomplishment so far: the Trailblazers are the only team to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder!

In fact, Portland has also defeated the Warriors (twice), Lakers, and Nuggets already this year. Giant slayers, indeed!

The Trailblazers entered the season with low expectations of making any noise in the West, despite having a very loud offseason. It started with drafting Cedric Coward (a Rookie of the Year candidate) to Memphis for a future first, two future seconds, and a pick they used on Hansen Yang (to many people’s surprise). Shortly after, Portland bought out DeAndre Ayton’s contract, who would then sign with the Lakers. Portland continued to turn heads, this time by trading Anfernee Simons’ expiring contract for 3 seasons of Jrue Holiday. Finally, the Blazers found themselves on the other side of a contract buyout and bringing back Damian Lillard after Milwaukee cut him loose.

After losing its season opener at home to Minnesota, the Blazers found themselves leading the news again. Head Coach, Chauncey Billups was arrested for allegedly taking part in illegal poker operations. In a time when everything old is new again, I still blown away that the term “Jailblazers” has somehow returned.

Fun fact that may only interest me

Two seasons ago, there were only 4 players that averaged at least 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

Nikola JokicLuka DoncicGiannis AntetokounmpoLeBron James

Last season, there were only 4 players that averaged at least 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

Nikola JokicLuka DoncicGiannis AntetokounmpoJayson Tatum

This season, there are only 4 players that average at least 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

Nikola JokicLuka DoncicGiannis AntetokounmpoDeni Avdija

Another reason for Portland’s success — as far as 8-12 records go — is Jerami Grant. For the first time since he was with the Thunder in 2018, Grant is no longer a starter. Donovan Clingan has taken over Ayton’s vacancy at Center. Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, and Avdija have all remained starters. So, Grant was bumped to make room for Holiday. Jerami has responded with renewed energy and purpose. He leads all reserves in scoring with 19.1 points per game and is one of the early favourites to claim the Sixth Man of the Year award.

While Portland has an impressive resume of victories this season, they’ve come down to Earth lately. The Blazers have lost 7 of its last 9 games and own the 4th-worst offense over the last two weeks. This game in Toronto is the first of a five-game road trip — already Portland’s second road trip of five games! The Raptors get back on the winning track and cover the -6.5 spread.

December 4 vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Before the season started, I was a guest on a Lakers podcast, Lakers Fast Break, to preview the Toronto Raptors. To wrap up the show, and to appease the Lakers-heavy audience, the host, Gerald Glassford asked for my thoughts on the Lakers. With LeBron James missing the beginning of the season, I said the Lakers shouldn’t worry too much if they start slow, because all that matters is that LeBron, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves are healthy for a playoff run and a top-3 seed.

After 19 games, I was surprisingly correct about the ranking — Los Angeles is 15-4 and currently 2nd to OKC. However, there was no slow start because, surprise, the Lakers still have Luka!

Doncic leads the league in scoring with 35.1 points per game, ranks 4th in assists with 9.2 per game, and edges out DeAndre Ayton (8.7-8.6) and leads the team in rebounds. The Robin to Luka’s Batman has NOT been LeBron, but Austin Reaves!

Reaves is 9th in points (28.8), 12th in assists (6.8), and 8th in true shooting percentage (68.1%). Austin is one of only two guards in the top 10 in true shooting percentage — a category typically dominated by bigs — with the other guard, AJ Green, owning a usage percent (13%) more than half the amount of Reaves’ (28.5%).

I’m struggling to think of a better duo in the NBA than Luka and Austin. Possibly because a better duo doesn’t exist. Add in LeBron freaking James, who is still spry, regardless of age or wear and tear, and you can easily see why Lakers fans are in good spirits.

Fun fact that may only interest me

For the majority of this column’s existence, LeBron James has been a Laker, which means the Raptors only face him twice a year. I’m not going to scan through 7 years of my archive but it’s probably fair to assume that whenever the Raptors faces the Lakers, this section is occupied by an incredulous LeBron stat.

Today is slightly different, as James’ scoring records have been trending lately.

Cooper Flagg recently surpassed LeBron as they youngest player in NBA history to score 35 points in a game. That seemed like a record that could stand the test of time since high-school-to-NBA leaps were banned.

Giannis Antetokounmpo recently scored his 21,000th point. He then boldly predicted that he could break LeBron’s all-time scoring record in “four, five years.” Maybe the comma was a mistake and he meant “four-five years” because scoring 21,251 more points over the next five seasons means Giannis would have to score 51.7 points per game (while also playing all 82 games in each of the seasons).

This is a bad matchup for Toronto. Nobody gets to the free throw line more than the Lakers. Luka (1st) and Austin (3rd) make more free throws per game than anyone in the league. The Raptors, while they’ve toned down their defensive ball pressure of late, are still a bottom-10 team in foul calls. Scottie Barnes may be on his way to his first All-Defense selection, but even he won’t have an answer for Luka. Meanwhile, Reaves will have his way with Immanuel Quickley or RJ Barrett. Lakers win and cover the +2.5 spread.

December 5 vs Charlotte Hornets

The second game of a back-to-back, as well as the final game of a three-games-in-four-nights stretch is typically the most difficult. It certainly doesn’t help that the Raptors have to face the pesky Hornets.

Before the draft lottery, I was hoping, obviously, for Toronto to land Cooper Flagg. Assuming that wasn’t going to happen — the Raptors only win draft lotteries when the draft class sucks — my second wish was to move up and snag Kon Knueppel. At first, it was the thought of having a Dick-Knueppel duo that would break the internet. But as I learned more about each of the prospects, Knueppel really stood out as the future Klay Thompson that Gradey Dick was promised.

This is the third time these teams are playing each other in under three weeks. It’s basically a playoff series. As with any playoff matchup, you get comfortable with the opponents’ players and lineups. One thing I’ve learned is that Moussa Diabate gives my Reggie Evans vibes. I love him.

One thing I have not learned, only solidified what I already believed: I dislike Miles Bridges.

Fun fact that may only interest me

Charlotte and Toronto have always played each other tough. While the Hornets owned the the matchup in the first decade of the Raptors’ existence, it’s been mostly Toronto for the last decade. Charlotte has won the season series once over the last ten seasons against the Raptors…….the championship season, when Jeremy Lamb the Hornets took 2 of 3 from Toronto.

For the second consecutive game, the Raptors are at a rest disadvantage. RJ Barrett may or may not be back. Since returning from his back injury, Jakob Poeltl has sat out one of the games in each of Toronto’s 3 back-to-backs. It’s probably safe to assume Jak will play the Lakers and sit against the Hornets.

Toronto should have taken care of business in Charlotte last Saturday. They won’t make that mistake again. The Raptors win and cover the -5.5 spread.

December 7 vs Boston Celtics

The Celtics are annoying.

Granted, that’s a statement Raptors fans could probably state every time Boston comes to town. But this year’s Celtics a different kind of annoying.

When Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon during last season’s playoffs — followed by the salary-clearing trades of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday — the message seemed pretty clear from Boston’s front office: sit this season out and come back stronger in 2026-27.

However — there always seems to be a ‘however’ when the Celtics are the topic of discussion — Boston still has a Finals MVP, Jaylen Brown, an All-Defense guard, Derrick White, one of the best coaches in the league, Joe Mazzulla (top-4 in Coach of the Year voting, twice), and the greatest (ahem, only) Portuguese player of all time, Neemias Queta.

They’ve essentially defeated the teams they were supposed to (Wizards, Pelicans, Nets, Grizzlies, Clippers), while maintaining the same identity of launching triples (leading the league in non-corner threes frequency for a third consecutive season).

Fun fact that may only interest me

This is a Raptors-Celtics game, but this section is dedicated to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The preseason favourite to sit atop the East alongside New York has been hit with injuries and currently a pedestrian (for them) 12-9.

Five of Cleveland’s nine losses have come at the hands of the Raptors and Celtics. Cleveland’s worst margins of defeats:

Loss by 20 to BostonLoss by 13 to TorontoLoss by 11 to TorontoLoss by 11 to Toronto (another one)

When the calendar flipped from 2021 to 2022, the Trailblazers moved Anfernee Simons into the starting lineup. He had only started 8 of the first 184 games of his career. From then on, Simons started 205 consecutive games he played in. That streak came to an end when he slipped on a Celtics uniform. The 7-year veteran has come off the bench for each of the 20 games he’s played for Boston……and has performed admirably! His minutes, usage, and overall numbers have generally decreased, but he’s making more out of his time on the floor. Simons’ three-point and field goal percentages are above his career averages, while his Win Shares per 48 are also a career-best. He has essentially replaced Peyton Pritchard (who has replaced Holiday in the starting lineup) as the annoying Celtics guard to come off the bench.

The Boston reserve who will not annoy the Scotiabank Arena crowd is Chris Boucher. Slimm Duck will make his regular season return to Toronto. Unfortunately for viewers at home, this game is not being broadcast on TSN, which means fans will not hear Jack Armstrong scream, “Booonnnnjooouuuuuuuurrrrr!!”

A team with Boston’s offensive profile should give Toronto fits. The Celtics win and cover the +2.5 spread.