The victories can pile up when you least expect them. Friday’s win over the Magic made it two straight wins for the Raptors heading into Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. To many eyes, it’s a modest winning streak the club could do without.
In these latter days of a lost pandemic season, after all, it’s been easy enough to get the idea that the Raptors aren’t exactly pulling out every organizational stop to make a playoff push.
Sure, team president Masai Ujiri resisted the urge to trade Kyle Lowry at the March 25 deadline — a non-move that some interpreted as a signal that the Raptors were, at the very least, keen to sneak into the NBA’s play-in round and try their luck at advancement.