Monday’s 127-106 win over the Hornets didn’t tell us much about the Raptors we already didn’t know. It’s an extremely good team, with a superstar who’s already looking way closer to the old version of himself than the chronically injured question mark Masai Ujiri traded for in July, and a co-star whose playing out of his gourd through four games. Charlotte isn’t relevant or challenging enough to reveal anything of substance about the nature of Toronto’s overwhelming goodness.
The game did, however, offer reinforcement of some budding early-season trends that are already on the brink of becoming full-fledged pillars of the 2018-19 Raptors experience.