The time has come to jump on the Toronto Raptors bandwagon

The NBA's first round of playoffs begin Saturday, and for the first time in four years, the Toronto Raptors will be in the fight.

The Raptors begin a best-of-seven series against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 1 p.m. ET Saturday.

And while the pundits may not be calling for Toronto to come out on top, don't try telling star Scottie Barnes the Raptors are the underdogs.

"That shit don't matter," he told reporters this week.

This is the confidence fans will want to see their team summon in the days ahead.

Here's what you need to know about the Raptors as they begin their latest playoff journey.

It's hard to forget it hasn't been that long since the Raptors won it all, against the Golden State Warriors, in 2019.

But the season that followed was the one abruptly halted by COVID. The playoffs ended up happening way later than normal and occurring within a so-called bubble. The Raptors lost the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics in September 2020.

Toronto failed to advance to the playoffs in the 2020-21 season, but returned to the post-season the following year and lost the first-round series to the Philadelphia 76ers.

More recently, the Raptors have been going through a rebuild, which began under Masai Ujiri, who left the organization last year.

The Raptors put together a 46-36 season, in which the team had a winning record both at home (24-17) and on the road (22-19).

Toronto went 33-19 against fellow Eastern Conference clubs, yet the teams above them — the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics — can all point to regular games where they’ve stomped the Raptors.

How Toronto fared against the east's better teams is important, because the Raptors play a conference rival in Cleveland and will