In a departure from their recent pattern, the Toronto Raptors began last night’s game in a respectable manner, and used a late Q1 burst to tuck in front of the visiting Washington Wizards. However, that competitiveness quickly evaporated. In a humiliating stretch of Q2, the Wiz buried every shot they took en route to a 26-1 run. I’m hard-pressed to remember a worse half-quarter.
Toronto’s offense, which we knew would struggle without floor-stretchers Kyle Lowry and Terrence Ross, was hopeless under pressure. In particular, the second unit took it on the chin. Norman Powell, who can’t make layups, was minus_19 in one quarter – and so were Patrick Patterson and P.