If you’re a Toronto Raptors fan, you must be holding your breath and pinching yourself this year as you contemplate buying NBA Eastern Conference Championship tickets. With the second best record in the NBA Eastern Conference, the Raptors are solidly in second place and have secured their berth in the first round of the playoffs – but will they have what it takes to face the Cavaliers in the Finals – and win?

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Will the Raptors Surprise Everyone?

That’s a pretty big stretch of a dream for a team that’s lost in the first playoffs round the past two years, and has only won a single playoff series in the past two decades. Even the most diehard Raptors fans are skeptical, but as you look at the season’s record – and factor in Friday night’s Raptors win over the Cavs at home – it’s hard not to let a little hope creep in through the those crusty, skeptical edges.

That win puts the Raptors just two games behind Cleveland for top seed in the upcoming series. There’s no way they’ll end the season lower than second. The most serious contest in the NBA Eastern Conference at this point is the Celtics-Heat scramble to take third seed in the conference playoffs, leaving the Raptors solidly, comfortably and unassailably in second place.

It’s not an unfamiliar place for the Raptors. It’s not the first time they’ve made it to the playoffs in recent years. In fact, they’ve earned a playoff berth seven times since 1996 – but only made it past the first round once, in the 2000-2001 season. In 20 years, the Toronto ballers have been taken out in the first round of the Eastern Conference Championship by the Knicks, the Nets, the Wizards, the Magic and the Pistons. They’ve only survived to play in the Eastern Conference semifinals once – taking out the Knicks. With a record like that, it’s hard to blame Toronto basketball fans for holding onto their hearts just a little. After all, the Raptors have broken them so often.

The Pundits are Paying Attention

This year feels a little different, though, at least if you listen to the voices on the ground. ESPN’s senior sports writers point out that the Raptors aren’t just looking good in the Eastern Conference – the team has the fifth best record in the entire league, putting them in the same class as the Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder and, of course, the team ahead of them in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Raptors are taking the court with star-quality offense and defensive moves, with both their offensive and defensive records putting them in the top five and top ten spots across the league, respectively. As they’ve pulled in strongly behind the Cavs, there’s been a quiet buzz building among the players and the fans that this year could be the year that they take the Eastern Conference Championship.

Of course, that’s still a ways off, and a lot could happen between now and the championship game. The first hurdle will be prevailing in the series that always seems to trip them up – the first round of the Eastern Conference NBA finals. If they can make it past that, the sky’s the limit.

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