A game like Raptors-Hawks, considering all the essential pieces missing for Toronto for a third-straight time out, was never going to teach us much. It did have the capacity to confirm previously understood truths, though. In that regard, Thursday night did not disappoint, even if the buzzer-beating finale very much did if you’re a Raptors fan.
We’re well aware at this point that the Raptors are in fact annoying as shit. It’s more or less been their most defining quality since the beginning of last season’s middle-finger waving title defense. That held up against a Hawks team that had absolutely no business trailing in with 7 seconds to play in the game.