PORTLAND—On a night when the Toronto Raptors seemed up against it in more ways than one, they were more than happy with a 99-85 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that, on paper, they had little business winning.
Toronto was a week into their up-and-down West Coast road trip when they rolled into Oregon, pitting the NBA’s No. 1 rebounding team against the 18th — numbers that didn’t swing in the Raptors’ favour.
They were carrying knocks upon arrival, with both Jonas Valanciunas and Lucas Nogueira recently sidelined with ankle injuries. And the news seemed to get worse early Monday, when Serge Ibaka was also ruled out, sidelined with a swollen right knee that ballooned after Friday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, its cause still unknown.