It’s a somewhat abbreviated unofficial second half of the NBA season that the Toronto Raptors are embarking on, starting Friday at home against the Boston Celtics.
There are only 25 games left after the all-star break, turning the final eight weeks into a sprint rather than a marathon.
The minutiae of the schedule: 12 at home and 13 on the road; key Eastern Conference games left against Boston, Washington (twice), Atlanta, Indiana (three times); only two of the 25 out of the Eastern time zone.
It adds up to the fact the Raptors control their destiny against teams they are chasing and teams chasing them; how it breaks down at the end of the season in Cleveland on April 12 will have everything to do with how Toronto handles its own business.