After spending 17 out of 28 games at home to start the season, the Toronto Raptors head out on the road for their biggest test to date. The Raptors will be in Chicago tonight to face the Bulls which will be the start of their longest road trip in franchise history. Sitting atop of the Eastern Conference with 22-6 record and currently on a 6 game winning streak, the Raptors look to take care of business on the road and continue their road success this season with an 8-3 record.
“It’s important that we play good teams because it’s really going to test our character,” said Greivis Vasquez following the Raptors’ 118-108 win over the Knicks, their sixth straight victory. “We haven’t really faced adversity and everything right now is great, but I think we’re ready for a couple of premium tests.”
The Raptors next 6 games: @CHI, @LAC, @DEN, @POR, @GSW and @PHX.
Realistically Raptor fans shouldn’t expect a 6-0 record on this road trip but if the Raptors could finish the road trip with a 3-3 record that would say a lot about this. Without DeMar DeRozan since Nov. 30, the Raptors have managed to lead the NBA in points per 100 possessions (113.1) in December. With the phenomenal play from Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas, the Raptors have gone 9-3 without their All-Star.
The Raptors will be looking for some revenge tonight against the Bulls after losing to them in Toronto earlier in the season. It was some horrible defense played from the Raptors in the 3rd quarter which made the game slip away from them. Credit the Bulls for making some key defensive stops to take over the game heading into the 4th. While the Raptors were trailing by more than double-digit late in the 4th, their #WeTheFourth started to kick in and the Raptors clawed their way back in. Eventually it was too late and the Bulls went on to win 100-93.
Everyone looks excited for this long drooling road trip coach Casey said: “I’m ready for it,” Dwane Casey insisted. “We should be ready because we’ve been preaching it. Everyone’s all excited but reality is real and we have to be ready for adversity, whenever it hits. You go into it with positive vibes, ready to kick some behind but when adversity hits that’s when you find out how close we are and how we have to stick together.”
“Tomorrow will be a game that lets us know where we are in the league,” Casey said. “We’re one of the top teams, we are in that group but tomorrow night we have to show where we fit in that sphere.”
This 6 road trip will give us a hint of how good the Raptors actually and label us either a pretender or a contender.
