In a typical season, blaming circumstance for a loss can feel like making excuses. Every team tends to go through the same ebbs and flows, after all — a tough stretch in the schedule, a hot shooting opponent, or an unexpected injury. In 2020-21, though, it’s okay to give the Raptors the benefit of the doubt.
Playing their fifth game in seven nights, wrapping up a six-game road trip on a condensed schedule (only to now return to their not-home in Tampa), and missing their best defensive player in OG Anunoby, Toronto just ran out of answers against the Celtics on Thursday, losing 120-106.