The Toronto Raptors came out of the gate hot, made it exciting at the end, but ultimately came up short against the Blazers tonight, losing 118-113 at the Moda Center.
There’s no question whether the Raptors went for it on Monday, a given when you look at the two full days off coming up. With Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa out with injury, Nick Nurse dialled in his rotation to essentially a playoff preview. Going with the new normal as starters — Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam — only one player came off the bench for more than eight minutes (Khem Birch) and all five starters were over 39 minutes.