It seems like in every Toronto Raptors loss, you can look at one quarter and say, “yep, that’s the one that cost them the game.” You know the quarters I’m talking about — when the Raptors go on extended offensive drought, give up too many blow-bys, don’t get back in transition, or don’t crash the glass — sometimes all of the above. Oh, and there’s usually a lot of bench players involved.
And look! All of the above applies to last night’s second quarter, where the Raptors were outscored 25-16 on their way to a 97—93 loss to the Boston Celtics, who were missing Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Raptor Killer Payton Pritchard.