Nights like Monday make it hard to avoid reductive analysis.
Based on how it played in a disjointed and uneven second half, Toronto should have lost to the Nuggets on Monday night. After carrying a 13-point lead into the final 24, the Raptors abandoned the sharp defending and automatic offense they built their early cushion with, replacing them with offensive monotony and defensive despondence.
But then late in the fourth quarter, with the Raptors staring up at a 6-point deficit, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan did what you’ve come to expect of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.