The NBA's brightest teams like the Golden State Warriors, The Cleveland Cavaliers, with the superstar Lebron James, and the Houston Rockets have made it in the headlines of which team will win the Finals. It's no contest that these teams are great in their own right but what if I told you there's another team that are just as good as them. The Toronto Raptors are quietly showing the fans who pay attention to all teams that they can be just as dangerous as the best. Unfortunately for them, not many people pay attention to them because of their playoff woes in the last few years but this time they seem different.

In the NBA Although they have made it in the playoffs these past few years it didn't really seem impactful. This year, however, seems different. Despite being the first seed in the East not many analysts have them in the conversation of winning the title. According to an article by The Washington Post one of the reasons is the three-point range. The Raptors were 22nd in the NBA in three-pointers attempted per game and 29th among the league’s 30 teams in assist percentage. This year, they are fifth and tied for ninth, respectively. Players like C.J Miles have been on fire when hitting the three ball and still continue so far. That is quite the change.

Another reason why is the adjustments they had to make. Now they no longer have to rely on their two stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, they have a deep bench and everyone can contribute to the team which gives the starters some rest over the long NBA regular season. “I think we’re a very talented group,” Lowry said. “I think the trust that we have in everyone on our roster is big for us. That’s what’s making our team a better team." Lowry and DeRozan will have to continue to believe that everyone needs to touch the ball as the game winds down, instead of reverting back to the isolation play that they’ve so often relied on in the past. They'e starting to look more like a Golden State Warrior team. A balanced offense with stars to help further assert their dominance on the court. The fact that they've out played the surging Celtics and the Cavs with Lebron James to grab that first seed says a lot about their growth.

The real test for the Raptors begins in the playoffs for this year. Just because they're the number one seed that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. The last time the team was the first seed they lost in the Eastern Finals against the Cavs. If they can win the Eastern Conference Finals and win the NBA Finals then everyone should start to pay more attention. “We will find out,” Casey said. “The goal is to find out. Why not? What is our record right now, so why change this because some rule book somewhere [says so].