How many months ago do you think the Toronto Raptors last won 10 straight games?
The answer is 70 – February 2020.
That was the post-championship, Kawhi-less Raptors who finished 53-19 in the pandemic season.
Boy, does that feel like an eternity ago.
Fast-forward to today, and there are similarities to how this version of the Raptors compares to that squad.
They had a veteran centre in Marc Gasol, like Jakob Poeltl.
Outside of three OGs, the rest of the team all had five years of NBA experience or less.
A dynamic bench mob was coming in like gangbusters and injecting energy into every game.
The biggest difference, obviously, was their championship experience.
That team was proven. This one has everything to prove.
With a chance to extend their win streak to 10 and sit half a game back of first place in the East, expect motivations to be high.
For tonight’s contest, we have a YourWay FanDuel Same Game Parlay built with Toronto winning in mind.
The following three legs combined pays +292.
Brandon Ingram 23+ points
BI is not just capturing the imaginations of Toronto Raptors fans; his game-winning plays are garnering league-wide attention for his re-emergence after escaping New Orleans.
His revival has been instrumental to Toronto’s newfound success in what’s been a storybook start.
Now with RJ Barrett out for the last two games, there was a chance for some team regression.
Instead, Ingram has stepped up by putting even more offensive responsibility on his shoulders.
He’s averaged 31.5 ppg over these last two games and taken 53 shots.
Given how Charlotte defends, there’s a good chance that usage continues.
Over the last four games, the Hornets have been very generous to opposing stars. Here’s their game log: Josh Giddey – 25 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists
Jalen Brunson – 33 points
Jalen Johnson – 28 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists
James Harden – 55 points
This is a Hornets defence that is the sixth-worst in the NBA.
Even in last night’s matchup where they snapped a seven-game losing streak, they gave up 116 points to Chicago.
Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken; Ingram is Toronto’s undisputed clutch time alpha dog.
Immanuel Quickley 6+ assists
IQ’s strong scoring has also been critical to Toronto’s winning ways.
Even though he’s hit a mini-cold patch over these last three games, his playmaking continues to be a staple for this offence.
He’s averaged 6.5 assists over these two games without Barrett and has covered 6 or more dimes in 14-of-19 games this season.
No one averages more passes per game on the Raptors than Quickley.
As an added bonus for this leg, Charlotte owns the second-lowest foul rate in the NBA.
That correlates to less attempts at the free-throw line and more potential assists that actually end up as made field-goals.
Only three teams in the NBA allow more assists per game than the Hornets.
Kon Knueppel 16+ points
This article is being written prior to lunch on Saturday, and the Hornets have yet to submit their injury report coming off a back-to-back.
I’m making a reasonable assumption that one of LaMelo Ball or Brandon Miller will sit out the second night of a back-to-back.
Since Ball’s returned from an ankle injury, he’s encountered two back-to-backs and sat out the second night of both.
Miller returned four games ago and sat out last Friday’s game after suiting up Thursday.
Should both players be active, that doesn’t mean this leg is doomed.
It’s more a bonus should one or both of their stars be sidelined.
Knueppel is exactly the type of player that’s given Toronto trouble.
As strong as Toronto’s defence has been over this streak, they are consistently allowing opponents to get a high volume of shots up from deep (39.6 threes a game).
Sure, opponents have shot a paltry 31.5 percent from beyond the arc, but data suggests that number will regress back towards the mean.
Knueppel has been the undisputed best shooter from this year’s rookie class and is the betting favourite on FanDuel for Rookie of the Year for a reason.
The last time they played, the Kon Man went 4-for-10 from deep and finished with 24 points.
