As the calendar page flips to December it signifies the completion of the Toronto Raptors most harrowing portion of their schedule. Currently sitting fifth in the East there is reason for optimism as the Raptors will finally experience a stretch of home cooking. Additionally, the upcoming home run of 6 games will allow Dwane Casey and his staff much needed practice time. No doubt emphasis on ball and player movement will take precedence with a definite focus on better starts, as will tweaking of the teams perimeter defense.

In the RR Round Table segment at season start I felt if the Raptors came out of this extended road heavy November with a .500 record or better it would bode well for the potential of winning 50-games. Having said that, I’m not as concerned about the number of wins the team will tally as I am with the progress and development of the team through the season. Still, a good litmus test for measuring how effective the Raptors have been lies in comparing where they rank comparative to the teams above them. Strength of schedule is just one aspect to consider, but in this case it merits a much closer look.

A few weeks ago the schedule was pointing to certain variations and benefits and now with nearly a quarter of the season complete the early Raptors strength of schedule points to why so many of us were excited by their winning record.

Certainly Toronto’s fifth place rank has to be considered a positive given their league leading 13 road games and 10 games versus the West (second only to Detroit’s 11). Review of the teams sitting above the Raptors highlights how impressive the Raptors accomplishment is given their comparatively difficult strength of schedule.

Cleveland Cavaliers Schedule Notes:

The Cavaliers have played 8 road games.

Cleveland have played the West TWICE : They hosted the Jazz and played in Memphis in the second game of the season when the Grizzlies were still under going their initial struggles.

: They hosted the Jazz and played in Memphis in the second game of the season when the Grizzlies were still under going their initial struggles. While the Raptors are dealing with fatigue from spending so much time traveling to the opposite coast, Cleveland won’t make their first extended trip out West until Christmas Day . A fact which warrants additional consideration given the struggles Cleveland have experienced outside Quicken Loans Arena (4-4).

. A fact which warrants additional consideration given the struggles Cleveland have experienced outside Quicken Loans Arena (4-4). Obviously with Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert set to return to the line-up the Cavaliers will improve on both ends of the floor. Yet, let’s not forget the Raptors accomplished their winning road record without the services of Jonas Valanciunas for key portions and DeMarre Carroll missing games and also nursing plantar fasciitis.

The Cavaliers have played 8 teams currently seeded in the top 16: Chicago (loss), Memphis, Miami, Indiana, Utah, Atlanta, Orlando and Toronto (loss)

In their 18 games the Cavaliers have faced opponents with a 154-181 record or minus 27 differential .

. The 8 games Cleveland will play prior to Christmas Day feature opponents with a 66-86 record or minus -20 differential . Further they play just 3 Western teams

. Further they play just 3 Western teams Another notable stat (and somewhat similar to the Raptors) is Cleveland’s record in games with a 5 point differential is 5-4.

With the return of their 2 core players (Irving/Shumpert) also comes 16 back to back sets, a heavy dose of Western teams with a good mixture of teams who started slowly, but are finally finding their niche. I’m not implying the Cavaliers won’t finish atop the Eastern Conference, but I will note their strength of schedule will test them far greater in the final three quarters of the season then the extremely easy schedule they began with.

Chicago Bulls Schedule Notes:

Of the top 5 teams Chicago has played the fewest (1) back to back set, which means they have 16 more coming.

Chicago has played the most difficult schedule to date (opponent record +22). This number may be a bit skewed given 6 of the teams they faced account for more than half of the opponent win record (84 of the 162).

Chicago has yet to win an overtime game, losing both this season

By far the the Bulls have the easiest record from now until Christmas Day with an opponent record of minus -32.

Indiana Pacer Schedule Notes:

Of this top 5 group Indy has played the second most road games to Toronto

The Pacers have also played the second most back to back sets to Toronto

Of note: while you won’t find it in the chart Indy has been extremely fortunate with opponent injuries. Case in point, when they played the Clippers they were without Chris Paul and J.J. Redick left the game on the first play

Their next game against Utah will feature a Rudy Gobert-less line-up

Despite these advantages the Pacers hold a 3-3 record versus the West with 24 additional matches yet to be played

Of the 6 games the Pacers have played in that finished within 5 points, 2 of their 4 wins came against the Lakers and Bucks

The upcoming 10 games scheduled for the Pacers prior to Christmas Day features the most difficult schedule of the top 5 with an opponent record of plus +32 and 6 games are versus the West

Miami Heat Schedule Notes:

Pat Riley and the schedule maker must be great buddies given the ease with which they’ve started the season. To wit:

Miami have played FIVE road games, ONE back to back set

road games, back to back set Their opponent record is a minus – 16 (second only to Cleveland)

Of the 7 games the Heat have played versus the West they faced: Houston twice, the Lakers, Minnesota twice (losing once), Sacramento and Oklahoma City in a squeaker.

Of the 7 games the Heat have played within 5 points, 3 of their 5 wins came against Houston, Philadelphia and Washington

In their 10 games prior to Christmas Day they still only have 4 road games and 2 West teams on tap. This means the Heat will enter Christmas Day having played 9 road games, 9 Western teams and a total of 2 back to back sets.

As much as Miami have been reveling in their ease of schedule it will change in the New Year with 15 back to back sets to play, 21 Western teams and 32 road games.

Toronto Raptors Schedule Notes:

Though I’m sure you’ve read it hear on RR or in the countless items covering the subject it is safe to say the Raptors have literally weathered the storm:

Most road games to date in the Association

Only team not to have played 2 games in a row at home (until Saturday arrives vs. the Warriors)

Second to Detroit for most games versus West (10) by Eastern team.

Of the top 5 teams played the most (5) back to back sets

Another interesting side note is the Raptors are tied with Cleveland in the number of games within 5 points they have been in (9). The difference for the Raptors is 3 of their losses were determined by a whistle (New York, Golden State and Phoenix and some would even say the Orlando game had an iffy late whistle). A further 3 of those losses occurred on the second night of a back to back (Utah, Phoenix, Denver).

The home town squad has more than just finishing the hellish start to 2015-16 to breathe easy over. While there are still difficult stretches coming the Raptors have an unprecedented set of 3 long home stands remaining. If you pay attention to pre or post game interviews a common sentiment of the coaches is how little practice time teams have. With two 6-game stretches and a 7 game stand to come it will offer invaluable time on the practice court.

Specifically what this means for the Raptors is time to work on their offense, something we’ve been led to believe hasn’t occurred yet. Casey and his staff should now be focusing on orchestrating specific sets and drilling home the need for ball and player movement. Lessons learned from the road can also be addressed like defense of the perimeter and how to address the loss of Valanciunas more directly.

These sessions are invaluable and I’d argue the Raptors can reap rewards from having spent so much time on the road. Conversely of the top 4 teams in front of them only Indiana has played 10 on the road and aren’t cleaning up out West. They barely squeaked by the Lakers, lucked into playing the Clippers without their starting back court and lost to Portland. Still, none of the trips these teams have been on have been long enough to provide specific areas to focus on fixing. Sure the Cavaliers have had issues on the road, but imagine where they might be ranked if they had started the season with the Raptors schedule!

There are definitely areas the Raptors must address (the start) and as Blake pointed out there may be further changes to the rotation coming down the pipe. Yet, it’s difficult to not get excited at the prospect of how much can be accomplished specifically in terms of the offensive chemistry once the team can isolate it in practice. Or to imagine how much better the defense can improve with additional time to work on it.

Record Breaking Quarter:

The 5 teams atop the East also find themselves ranking among the leaders in the major categories, yet only 5 teams can boast of being in the top 10 of all three major categories:

Offense:

Golden State Warriors (1)

Cleveland Cavaliers (3)

Toronto Raptors ( 7 )

) Indiana Pacers (8)

San Antonio Spurs (10)

Defense:

San Antonio Spurs (1)

Indiana Pacers (5)

Golden State Warriors (6)

Toronto Raptors ( 8)

Cleveland Cavaliers (9)

Net Differential:

Golden State Warriors (1)

San Antonio Spurs (2)

Indiana Pacers (5)

Cleveland Cavaliers (6)

Toronto Raptors (8)

Another key category and one the Raptors earmarked for improvement is rebounding. In what is somewhat surprising news (with Valanciunas out) the Raptors again found themselves among the leaders in rebounding percentage. Looking at the teams ahead of them in the East and the 5 teams who all rank in the top 10 of each of the major categories I dove in to see where the Raptors stood and found some surprising results:

Defensive Rebound Percentage:

Cleveland Cavaliers (1)

San Antonio Spurs (2)

Toronto Raptors (9)

Offensive Rebound Percentage:

Golden State Warriors (4)

Toronto Raptors (8)

Overall Rebound Percentage:

Cleveland Cavaliers (2)

San Antonio Spurs (3)

Golden State Warriors (4)

Toronto Raptors (5)

Did you figure out the surprise? The Toronto Raptors are the ONLY top team who rank in the top ten of all 3 rebounding categories!

Number crunching provides a great tool to measure the effectiveness of a team, specifically when it comes to comparing apples to apples. However, what I’m buoyed by more than any stat is the compete level of this seasons Raptors. I felt a similar excitement in the second half of the 2013-14 season when the ball was zipping and the team could never be counted out. This season feels like a similar, arguably much better version of that template. The fact is these Raptors simply refuse to quit and that alone makes the team exciting and compelling to watch. It just so happens they are also achieving consistent success along their current path!