With a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, the Toronto Raptors have extended their win streak to six games to start the 2018-19 season.
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As NBA.com's Kyle Irving noted following their victory, that set a record for the best start in franchise history. The previous record was 5-0, set in 2015-16 by the likes of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll and Patrick Patterson.
Before the Raptors look to make it 7-0 when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks (5-0) on Tuesday, here are five stats you need to know about Toronto's scorching hot start...
125.7 : Kyle Lowry's offensive rating
Lowry currently has the second-best offensive rating in the league, which shouldn't come as a surprise based on how efficient he's been through six games.
He's scoring 19.8 points on 57.5 percent shooting from the field, 52.8 percent from the 3-point line and 80.0 percent from the free throw line. The combination gives Lowry a True Shooting Percentage similar to Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry .
Lowry has also dished out a total of 62 assists in six games while committing only 14 turnovers. The next closest player to him on the assist leaderboard is LeBron James, who has a total of 46 assists in five games.
All in all, Lowry couldn't have gotten the season off to a better start.
3.4 : How many offensive rebounds Serge Ibaka is averaging per 36 minutes
It's only been six games, but Ibaka is on pace to have his most productive offensive rebounding season since 2012-13.
It helps that Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has turned the veteran into a full-time centre for the first time in his career. When he's not spacing the floor for Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard by hanging out on the 3-point line, Ibaka has been doing a good job of using his size and athleticism as the only true big man on the floor to give Toronto second chance scoring opportunities.
If he can keep pulling down offensive rebounds and regain his shooting touch from 3-point land, this could turn out to be a nice bounce-back season for Ibaka.
45.5 : Kawhi Leonard's 3-point shooting percentage
Other than health, the only real concern with Leonard entering the season was his 3-point shooting.
While he was one of the best long range shooters in the league before he got injured, Leonard shot 31.4 percent from deep in the nine games he played last season. He then went 1-for-8 in three preseason games with the Raptors.
For that reason, it's encouraging to see him drain 10 of his first 22 attempts from the perimeter. Most of those makes and attempts have come in catch-and-shoot situations, but he's already connected on four triples off the dribble.
If that's now a part of his game — Leonard shot only 30.7 percent on pull-up 3s in 2016-17 — watch out.
21.2 : The net rating of Toronto's most-used starting lineup
The starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka is getting it done at an absurd level on both ends, scoring at a rate of 116.1 points per 100 possessions on offence and holding opponents to only 94.9 points per 100 possessions on defence.
Both of those figures will likely come back down to earth as the season progresses, but there's no reason to believe that they won't continue to set the league on fire. The Raptors have more than enough outside shooting in Lowry, Green and Leonard, and the five of them make for a defensive unit that can match up with just about any team in the league without sacrificing size, speed or athleticism.
The latter will become especially important if they meet the Boston Celtics and/or Golden State Warriors in the postseason.
-28.7 : The net rating of Toronto's most-used all-bench lineup
The all-bench lineup of Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright, CJ Miles, Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl was a huge reason for the Raptors' success last season.
So far this season? Their most-used all-bench lineup has struggled on both ends.
That all-bench lineup is different now that Siakam is starting, Poeltl is in San Antonio and Jonas Valanciunas is a part of the second unit — for now, at least. It doesn't help that Delon Wright has appeared in only one game or that CJ Miles has started the season ice cold from distance either.
Maybe they'll find their stride again once everyone is healthy and Nick Nurse settles on particular lineups. Or maybe Nurse won't lean on those all-bench lineups as much this season, choosing to instead have at least one starter on the floor at all times.
Either way, it's something to keep an eye on moving forward.
