This is what the Raptors have been waiting for all year, the intensity of the playoffs and a chance to show how good they can be. They enter their first-round series against the Orlando Magic as healthy as possible with the kind of veteran players who won’t get crushed by a loss or giddy after a win. There is a business-like quality to them that is admirable. And it should benefit them greatly as the playoffs unfold.
Orlando is not a pushover, though. The Magic finished the regular season on a 22-9 run and play a low-risk style anchored around a solid defence that tends to keep them in games.