It is a long, hard and disjointed trip, to the west back to the east back to the west, hither and yon over the holidays.
It is a journey that will test even the best and most focused of NBA teams and the Toronto Raptors swear they are ready.
The six-game trip that began in Salt Lake City on Friday continues Monday night in Portland with the first of five remaining games in the longest trek of the year.
Portland to Oakland and then over to Phoenix. A quick trip back to Los Angeles — why they couldn’t go down the coast from Oakland before heading inland is a secret only the NBA’s schedule-making computer knows — before a side excursion to San Antonio to wrap it all up.