Stop calling this proof
The easy fan take here is flattering and lazy: Toronto found something, the numbers look hot, so now you can start talking like the case is closed. No. You can say the recent stretch deserves attention. You cannot cash it in as trust yet.
The encouraging part is real enough. Toronto enters the April 10, 2026 game at New York having gone 6-4 over its last 10. Over that stretch, the Raptors have averaged 120.4 points and shot 51.5%. Fine. Notice it. Talk about it. Put it on the board. Just do not pretend those numbers settled the harder question, because the same snapshot says Toronto is 21-26 against teams over .500 entering that game.
The harder standard
That is where the victory-lap version falls apart. If one loud patch is doing all the work in your argument, your argument is thin. The cleaner read is that Toronto has become more interesting, not fully trustworthy. Those are different claims, and fans blur them because the second one feels better.
New York is useful here for exactly that reason. Toronto does not need applause for looking livelier. It needs a stronger result than the flattering version has offered so far. Until this recent shape survives that kind of opponent, the serious stance is simple: watch the progress, stop short of the arrival speech.