CHARLOTTE—The true days of reckoning are months away and there is time for any number of things to happen that will eventually determine how the NBA’s Eastern Conference shakes out.
But the muddle that exists now is at least making the early part of the season more interesting than it usually is. So many teams bunched so close together lends a sense of importance to more games and that’s unique for this time of year.
And the Raptors aren’t handling it well at all.
Despite a stirring fourth-quarter rally, some brutal early shooting and the age-old issue of being unable to stop dribble penetration cost them in a 109-99 overtime loss to the Hornets here Thursday, Toronto’s second discouraging loss to an Eastern Conference foe this week.