Last Updated on November 22, 2025 1:53 am by Mike Passador | Published: November 22, 2025

Two of the hottest teams in the league are a pair that nobody predicted to be truly competitive this season, and both won last night in impressive fashion.

On one hand, you have the Toronto Raptors, who sit 11-5 on the season and have responded with purpose after an early four-game losing streak. They are benefiting from a run of depleted or outright bad opponents, but the Raptors are steamrolling whoever shows up to the gym with them these days. It was another balanced attack on Friday with Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett both scoring 24 points and Scottie Barnes and Sandro Mamukelashvili scoring 23 apiece. They were the first team to clinch a berth in the NBA Cup quarterfinals and are sporting a ridiculous point differential at the moment. The Raptors will hit tougher times ahead but they’ve been gifted a big window to work through their early struggles without a ton of pressure given the caliber of recent opposition. It’s a team that has plenty of talent with length and versatility, and if they can truly find their groove before the better teams start popping up on the docket it’s going to be a very fun season.

On the other, you have the Phoenix Suns. Nobody expected the Suns to put up a ton of fight this season, especially after trading Kevin Durant away over the summer. The Suns have decided to change up their whole energy this year and have surrounded Devin Booker with some swagger, scrap and shooting. There are a lot of hard-nosed guys on the Phoenix roster and they always play hard when they had been left for dead. On Friday they pulled off a miracle, coming back from eight points down in the final 49 seconds to stun the Timberwolves — and that was all with Booker out of the game after fouling out. Jordan Goodwin had five straight points in that 9-0 closing run and Collin Gillespie nailed a fading floater with six seconds left to flip the score. Dillon Brooks has been rock solid around his injury, Mark Williams is looking like his old self and Booker is playing at an All-NBA level on most nights. Even if the Suns flame out from here, you can bet their fans are enjoying this a lot more than last season.

We’re still very early in the campaign but it’s always more fun when a couple teams take a big step forward and surprise everyone else.

Top Pickups

This is the “general must-add” section regardless of the slate. If these players are being overlooked and remain chilling on the waiver wire, consider adding them to your squad.

Collin Gillespie (20%)

Gillespie hit the game-winner on Friday, finishing with 20-4-7, two steals and four triples. He helped lead a comeback charge despite both Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks fouling out last night and continues to establish himself as a key player in the Phoenix rotation. If you can still get him, go do that right now. If you had him, dropped him and can’t get him back, let this be a lesson.

Jeremiah Fears (25%)

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