Five factors behind Raptors’ incredible run

DeMar DeRozan playing the best basketball of his career averaging 23.2 points a game

They’re on the verge of winning nine consecutive games for the first time in 14 years. Over the past 20 days, the Raptors have taken their win streak through the dregs of the Eastern Conference, and gone across the Atlantic Ocean before starting a sevengame homestand. Here are five reasons why the Raptors have been so successful:

CAREER YEARS

DeMar DeRozan is playing the best basketball of his seven years in the league, with 23.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. But it’s how he’s doing it. DeRozan understands his game fully and is one of the best in the league at drawing contact and getting to the line.

Kyle Lowry is scoring a career-best 20.7 points per game and has basically duplicated his all-star numbers of a year ago. He lost weight in the off-season and is performing better defensively, as is the rest of this Raptors team, which make the play- offs feel like a place of optimism, as opposed to a year ago when it spelled the inevitable demise of a flawed team.

THE SURPRISE STARTER

An impressive aspect of this win streak is that it’s happening without the Raptors’ prized free-agent acquisition. DeMarre Carroll is sidelined after having arthroscopic surgery on his knee and may not be back until the end of the regular season. James Johnson has started15 games in Car- roll’s absence and, while his numbers aren’t overwhelming (five points and two rebounds per game), he has fared well in Carroll’s figurative shoes, guarding some of the most talented offensive players in the league.

BENCH PLAY

The Raptors had 51points from their bench in Sunday’s win over the Clippers, well above the season average of 27.3 points per game, per hoopstats.com. The Raptors’ bench isn’t scoring at a high clip — they’re the 27th most productive bench in the league — but they’ve gotten strong individual contributions.

Patrick Patterson has been reliable, scoring 8.5 points and pulling in 3.7 rebounds per game over Toronto’s last 10 games. Terrence Ross has been a consistent scoring option, hitting double digits in five of his last six games. Cory Joseph has picked up his game after a slow December and Bismack Biyombo continues to lead the team in blocks (1.5 per game) and

is second in rebounds (8.4 per game).

CREDIT TO THE COACH

Dwane Casey took a lot of heat in his team’s 4-0 playoff loss to the Wizards last year and, to his credit (along with GM Masai Ujiri), turned it into a learning experience. The additions of Carroll, Joseph, Luis Scola and Biyombo helped give the Raptors the look of a defence-first team, but Casey had to install that philosophy with his returning players. There are still off nights (wins over Brooklyn and Boston in this streak jump out), but this team is vastly different than it was a year ago.

THE RIGHT BOUNCES

The Raptors played more road games to start the season than any other team in the league. With this extended homestand, they’re finally catching a break in the schedule.

Opponents’ injuries are also making a difference. Miami wheeled a roster into Toronto for Friday’s game. Blake Griffin sat out of Sunday’s game for the Clippers (who played their third game in four nights).

More good schedule news for the Raptors: they have a second sevengame home stand from March 2-14.