CHARLOTTE—It was supposed to be a battle of teams with a primary focus on defence, squads that live by a protect-the-paint mentality, mirror images willing to grind out wins.
Not so much.
Despite playing defence as if they were allergic to it for most of the second half, the Toronto Raptors rallied in the final three minutes on the strength of an efficient offence to hand the Charlotte Hornets a 113-111 defeat here Friday night.
After a strong first half against one of the better defensive teams in the league, the Raptors more than returned the favour, surrendering a single-quarter season-high 38 points in the third quarter.