NBA Playoffs 2020: 5 reasons the Toronto Raptors can win it all

1. We haven’t seen the Toronto Raptors at their best yet

With a top-three record and point differential, you’d think the 2019-20 Toronto Raptors had enjoyed a clean bill of health all season long. The scary thing is, the team that put together a league-best 15-game win streak in January and February did so with Gasol, Ibaka and Powell all missing various stretches.

According to Spotrac, the Raptors have lost 219 games due to injury among 13 players, the former of which is the fifth-highest figure in the NBA. Of the team’s 64 games, Siakam has missed 11 and Lowry has missed 12. Ibaka has missed 14, VanVleet has missed 16, Powell has missed 20 and Gasol has missed 28.

For a lesser team, with a lesser coach and a lesser bench, that many games missed due to injury would’ve spelled catastrophe. For the Raptors, it’s a testament to how deep this team really is and how dangerous it might become after being given such a long period to rest and recover.

Long story short, we’ve barely seen this very good Raptors team at full strength, and that’s the biggest reason the dinos’ hopes of repeating as NBA champions are nowhere near extinct just yet.