The Raptors are not the team they should be, and they’re not the team they are. Does that make sense? After dispatching the Kings, 120-105, on Tuesday night, we are forced to keep these two separate ideas in our heads at the same time. This is our version of load management.
First, the Raptors played tonight without Kawhi Leonard, their star player, and without two extremely useful rotation players, OG Anunoby and Jonas Valanciunas. Despite the result, this is not the team they are. Second, Toronto looked out of sorts on offense and defense for stretches tonight, which is to say they’re not the team they should be.