The Raptors are 54-23 and just coasting along towards the end of the season. It’s astounding how quickly we’ve gotten used to this. In, say, 1998, we wouldn’t have thought this way; in 2005 we would have had trouble imagining it; and in 2011 we were ready to just forget this team even existed. And yet here we are. The Raptors own another 50-win season, home court advantage, individual awards, and a chance at immortality.
The flip-side to this good feeling is the other part of the Raptors’ identity that is still here: their temperament in the playoffs.