The word “change” has loomed over the Raptors since Masai Ujiri uttered it at the end of last season. The Raptors, with all of their old parts, and a bushel of relatively new and young components, would have to find a way to change, together. It’s an aspirational idea, but underneath there’s an implicit threat: adapt or die. Tonight against the Detroit Pistons, in the second last game of the mercifully short preseason, the Raptors looked far more evolved. The ball moved, the shots fell, and Toronto won laughing, 116-94.
As if reading our collective minds, Serge Ibaka started strong to set the pace for the Raptors.