The Rap Up: In the midst of the best regular season in franchise history, have playoff expectations been raised?

The Toronto Raptors are enjoying their best regular season performance in franchise history. But the postseason has been a different animal for them, only winning one playoff round and getting swept by the underdog Wizards last June.

Coming into the 2016-17 season, the goal was to win a playoff round. But now more than 60 games in and with a 43-20 record, people are starting to consider the Raptors as the team to derail the Cavaliers.

Postseason expectations seem to have grown around Raptor land.

It's understandable. Toronto has distanced themselves from the 3rd seed in the East, and are hovering around 2-3 games back of Cleveland. What's more is that the Raptors have actually taken two of the three matchups against the top seeded Cavs.

The return of DeMarre Carroll would also be a huge upgrade, as a lockdown defender to contain LeBron James. Carroll was brought in for that very reason if Toronto makes it as far as the Conference Finals and meet the Cavs.

Toronto also leads the NBA in offensive rating since the All-Star at 113.2 compared to their 105.8 rating they were boasting before the February break.

Even ESPN analyst Tim Legler has shown love to the boys up north. He raises good points. The Raptors seem to be one of the closest groups in the league behind the Warriors and Spurs. Team chemistry was one of the main reasons Toronto stood pat at the trade deadline, and they managed to carry that chemistry through the second half of the season thus far.

The Raptors also boast one of the best benches in the East, let alone the entire league. The second unit has done an outstanding job of producing in areas where the starters have lacked, and at the same time have kept the momentum provided from the starting unit intact.

The Jason Thompson addition has been quite overlooked. He didn't play much with Golden State, but he's been there long enough to bring some of that swagger over. Thompson's skillset also fits beautifully with the Raps. He's a relentless rebounder and can stretch the floor on the offensive end, making him a nice complement to the 35 year old Luis Scola when the Argentine gets a night off.

Bismack Biyombo has been as good a rebounder if not better than Jonas Valanciunas and Cory Joseph keeps the pace rolling when he's running the offence. Patrick Patterson is an impressive offensive rebounder and can score in a variety of ways. James Johnson has taken the role of defending the best wing or post player with Carroll ailing, and Terrence Ross has become the go-to guy coming off the bench.

Even the young guns have stepped up when they needed to, something Dwane Casey has preached all season long. Lucas Nogueira played well during Valanciunas' time off in November/December. Norman Powell has been seizing his opportunities recently as well, and has provided stout defence while improving on the offensive end.

Things are just clicking for the Raptors, and they're in a prime spot to make a nice playoff run. Although getting out of the first round should be the benchmark for this team, there's no reason to limit their expectations. This team is talented enough to make a push for the Conference Finals, and even cause some trouble for the opponent.

The way they're playing right now, Cleveland isn't even a lock to make the East Finals. Yes they're the unquestioned favourite to win the Conference, but there are some teams in the East that could seriously challenge them in the earlier rounds, most notably Miami and Boston.

Toronto's first round matchups won't be easy by any means. There are a few teams that match up well against the Raptors and may be as talented. But the Raps are playing with a lot of heart and poise which can be the difference maker in the postseason. Making it out of the first round could be all they need to open the floodgates and make a deep push.

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