To hear the Raptors tell it, Thursday night’s meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers wasn’t a measuring stick kind of game — win or lose.
There were absences: Kyle Lowry, out for the second of who knows how many games with a bruised tailbone, and Serge Ibaka, serving a one-game suspension for a punch thrown at Miami’s James Johnson on Tuesday.
There was also a dip in the visitors’ form, with LeBron James and company coming into the night 4-6 in their last 10 games.
No, Dwane Casey and DeMar DeRozan agreed, Thursday wasn’t about whether the Raptors could match the reigning Eastern Conference champions, a team that played in the last three NBA finals, day to day.