So, fine, the Raptors failed the past week’s big test, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks last Monday in mostly sad fashion. Both teams were playing without their powerhouse do-it-all forwards, the Bucks collectively shot the lights out (as host to as many as three Raptor killers, how could they not?), and Kyle Lowry had his coldest night of the early season. (Seriously, he went 0-for-9 from deep; this feels like a wild aberration.) That’s just how it goes.
Where then would the NBA Power Ranking intelligentsia place our beloved home team? This has been the question the has bedevilled us for the last seven days, even as the Raptors racked up three more wins (against Philly, Phoenix, and LeBron).