We are a little over a third of the way through the NBA season, and things look mostly normal and as expected. The expected Finals favorites the Warriors and Celtics struggled a little but are back on track and a combined 8-2 in their respective last five games. The pretty good–not great–teams are doing what they do best, being pretty good–not great. That includes the Lakers, Thunder, Clippers, in the West. Out East, the Bucks, 76ers, and Pacers. But one team is missing off of that list this year, and it’s the Raptors.

With an offseason that saw plenty of roster shakeups, the Raptors may be blemishing the best out of those teams. The Lakers, 76ers, Rockets, Timberwolves, and more have all lost or gained key pieces that has given them major struggles at least at some point during the season. Yet, it hasn’t felt like that for the Raptors. The Raptors are now 23-9 and leading the Eastern Conference one and a half games over the Milwaukee Bucks. The dynamic duo of Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry seems to be working like a charm, and they are winning games in massive spurts. They start the season 6-0 and lose to the one other undefeated team. Afterwards, they won six more, lost three in a row, and then ripped off 8 in a row.

Yet, what is different about this year’s team? The addition of superstar Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors over the past few years have always won a lot of games in the regular season but always have come up short in the playoffs. Now, with Kawhi Leonard, a better alternative to Demar Derozan, the Raptors look better going into games knowing they often have the best player on the court. Kawhi has put up a healthy statline of 26.3 points to go along with 8.4 rebounds per game, and has helped the team defensively as a two time defensive player of the year.

His partner in crime, Kyle Lowry, has been an excellent unselfish partner to Kawhi, averaging a double-double with 14.2 points and 10 assists per game. While Lowry has been good in his own right, the team around him has created a balanced scoring attack. Serge Ibaka has added 16.7 points per game, Pascal Siakam 14.4, Jonas Valanciunas 12.8, Danny Green 9.8, and Fred Vanvleet 9.7. With that type of offense, it allows for the Raptors to come out you in different ways rather than rely only on their stars. Plus, with the defensive presence of players like Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka, Kyle Lowry, and Danny Green the Raptors can be held to little on offense, but still win with by holding you to even less.

While all of this is great, the history of the Raptors isn’t. They have never even made a finals appearance, and over the last few years have struggled when it matters most in the playoffs. Over the past three season, the Raptors have been knocked out of the playoffs by LeBron James, and often haven’t been that competitive in doing so, getting swept twice. Now that the Raptors have an upgraded roster, a better player in Kawhi Leonard, they now have to prove they can finally get over the hump. With no LeBron in the East now, it is time for the Raptors to rise and prove to the world that they can get to the Finals and be true contenders come playoff time. If not, then it will be another season where it feels like we wasted our time covering Toronto. The ball is in your court, Raptors, make it happen.