ORLANDO It was supposed to be the start of a civilized road trip for the Raptors, the first of two games played over three nights against the same opponent in the comfortable embrace of some Florida heat and humidity.
And maybe it didn’t hurt the forecast that the opponent in question, the Orlando Magic, came into the weekend residing in the NBA basement, 30th place in the 30-team league.
“Listen, we definitely were looking forward to coming down here, for sure. Not much to do about the games,” Fred VanVleet said Friday after stepping out of the 25C sunshine and into an air-conditioned gym.