PORTLAND, Ore. — The NBA is in the heart of its self-combustion season—with coaches dropping like flies, trade rumors starting to swirl, and some locker rooms wistfully looking ahead to the summer free agency period—and yet the smooth-sailing Raptors’ biggest concern is how the team’s goofy centers keep getting their hands on boom microphones during post-game interviews.
Toronto had just won for the 13th time in 14 games, beating a spunky Portland team at the Moda Center thanks to 59 combined points from Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The All-Star guards had blitzed the Blazers with three-pointers and circus lay-ups, playing off of each other with a cohesiveness built up over four seasons together, but both looked perplexed by the wayward audio devices that greeted them at their lockers.