Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, the Toronto Raptors have work to do to solidify themselves as one of the top teams in the NBA. Currently sitting at the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, head coach Darko Rajakovic’s crew is in position to compete in the postseason after missing the playoffs three years in a row. 

While they have proven to beat up on the average or worse teams around the league, the Raptors have struggled mightily against the league’s best. Through 55 games, they currently hold a record of 1-13 against the top 10 teams in the NBA outside of the Cleveland Cavaliers and an 0-7 record against the top three teams in the East. 

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic | © Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Still, Toronto is just 3.5 games out of the second seed because of its ability to beat the teams it is supposed to. The expectations for this team were fairly sporadic coming into the season after winning just 30 games last year, but the rise of Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram has proven to be too much to handle for the majority of the league. 

With these factors in mind, the NBA released its Week 18 Power Rankings, which has the Raptors moving up one spot from before the All-Star break.

Rising to the 12th spot on the weekly power rankings (via nba.com), the NBA’s Jon Schuhmann attributed the Raptors’ exceptional transition offense to success, although their most recent outing was a blowout loss to the Detroit Pistons. One small aspect that he pointed out in favor of Toronto was having a better record on the road compared to at home, and 15 of its 27 games remaining are on the road. 

After consistently poor play against the top teams in the league, the Raptors' downfall can be attributed to three key factors: depth, 3-point shooting, and the fourth quarter.

Depth being an issue for the Raptors has everything to do with the players. General manager Bobby Webster did not fail in constructing a deep roster; the players that were brought in to support the stars simply haven’t done their jobs. Specifically, the massive amount of money being paid to Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl has not seen a return on investment quite yet.

While Quickley exploded for Eastern Conference Player of the Week in January, he has been inconsistent and unreliable as a scorer, which is his best attribute. Barrett has shown to be a positive influence on Toronto winning games, but that seems to disappear when playing the top teams because of his inability to create his own shot offensively. Poeltl is a tricky one because of the lower back strain that caused him to miss 24 straight contests, but that is essentially empty money with him not on the floor. 

Toronto Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley (5) | © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

3-point shooting has been a consistent problem for Toronto throughout the entirety of the season thus far. With modern analytics proving that 3-pointers and layups are the most efficient shots in basketball, ranking 25th in the league in 3-pointers made, attempted, and percentage is simply not going to cut it for a championship-contending team. The league average for the three-point percentage for a player typically floats around 36%, and the Raptors only have three players this season to surpass that average and shoot at least 2 three-pointers per game. 

Finally, the fourth quarter has been where Toronto has continuously collapsed against top opponents. With the lack of consistent scoring from anybody not named Barnes or Ingram, opposing defenses increase their intensity on the two All-Stars, which leaves one of the most stagnant fourth-quarter offenses in the NBA. The Raptors rank 29th in the league in fourth-quarter scoring with 25.8 and 18th in point-differential with -32 (via StatMuse).