After the Toronto Raptors traded Rudy Gay last season, something very obviously started clicking for them. Kyle Lowry started looking like a top-five point guard in the NBA. DeMar DeRozan started coming into his own. The role players all bought into the team and their chances. Things clicked and Toronto rode that into the postseason.

Now that everyone is back for the 2014-15 campaign, the expectations are high for this team. However, after the first month of the season, the Raptors have met those expectations. After the first month of the season, Toronto sits atop the Eastern Conference with a 13-3 record.

While the usual suspects in Lowry and DeRozan have been leading the way, the addition of Lou Williams as a sixth man has proved to be wildly beneficial for the Raps. His production off of the bench is one of the reasons that Toronto has the second most efficient offense in the league up to this point, putting up 110.7 points per 100 possessions.

On the other end of the floor the Raptors have also shown they can get it done. While you can’t pinpoint one particular player on their roster that’s necessarily an elite defender, this is a team that works exceptionally well together on both ends and their team defense allows them to have success in that regard.

The only thing that you have to take into account with the Raptors up to this point is that their schedule has been quite favorable to this point. Not only has their level of competition not exactly been the strongest, but 11 of their first 16 games have been played on their home floor. They’ve done their job and gone 9-2 in those games, but that’s still an advantage for them without question.

There is uncertainty on the horizon for the Raptors given the fact that DeRozan is now out indefinitely with a groin injury. Up to this point, though, it’s hard to say that this team hasn’t been anything short of exceptional. They still have more to show, but they look like a team ready to make serious noise in the East this season.

Final Grade: A