In fairness, every win in the NBA is a much-needed victory, unless you're instinctively heading in the wrong direction, but the Toronto Raptors still have aspirations of a deep playoff run, so this win was definitely a welcome sight.
The Brooklyn Nets arrived in Toronto hovering above .500, dropping their prior game to the Charlotte Hornets after winning three games on the bounce. As expected, they would still be without Kyrie Irving, while the Raptors would still be without both Fred VanVleet and Matt Thomas. Before the season started, the Nets were pegged as one of the teams to be sniffing around a high playoff seed, as were the Raptors.