The fact the Toronto Raptors may struggle at times offensively with Kyle Lowry on the shelf is no big surprise, especially with a second unit that just cannot find a way to score.
That deficiency can be worked around by dogged defence and teamwork and grinding out wins that aren’t necessarily pretty.
It cannot be worked around if the defence is as brutal as it was for a long stretch at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night when the Washington Wizards rolled to a 105-96 victory to bring a screeching halt to Toronto’s four-game winning streak.