Toronto Raptors: 3 overreactions through 3 games

The Toronto Raptors are off to a hot start in 2018-19, one that is causing some to believe things that are simply not true — or at least, too soon to be true.

The Toronto Raptors opened the 2018-19 season with high expectations. They jettisoned their coach and a star player in DeMar DeRozan, but they brought in one of the top two-way talents in the NBA, Kawhi Leonard, in a weakened Eastern Conference landscape.

Through three games, the team is meeting, even exceeding expectations.

The key phrase there is through three games.

Every win matters in the chase for the postseason, but it’s much too small a sample size to extrapolate any meaningful information, outside of any pivotal injuries (which luckily have not befallen Toronto yet).

Even five games is too small a sample size to determine anything. Just last season, the Orlando Magic started 4-1, including a dominant road victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Guess how that turned out for them?

So yes, it’s nice that Toronto started the season 3-0. Things are looking good in “The 6,” especially with a win over their chief Eastern Conference foe, the Boston Celtics, in hand.

But taking a few small steps back could go a long way in helping people realize what they have in the Raptors: a really great team, with an opportunity to be elite. Let’s pump the breaks on these three overreactions that can be created from Toronto’s hot start.