The Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors on Friday meet north of the border for the first time this season as two of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference since the calendar flipped over to 2019.
Only the Denver Nuggets at 5-1 have a better record in January than the 4-1 marks posted by the Nets and Raptors (along with three other clubs in the East — the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers).
The similarities don’t end there. Toronto and Brooklyn both enter play Friday coming off tougher-than-expected wins at home over the Atlanta Hawks.