Title: Raptors Concern Index: How worried should you be about each thing going wrong?
Date: January 4, 2021
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I looked at the biggest issues the Raptors are facing in their poor start and ranked them on a concern index.
As if things weren’t bad enough, the “home” crowd in Tampa began chanting for Tacko Fall. With the Boston Celtics dominating the Toronto Raptors, a fan base that is still far more neutral than invested wanted to see the Celtics’ 7-foot-5 sophomore. Never mind that the Raptors of recent years have built an identity on comebacks in situations like this; these are not those Raptors, or at least they do not appear to be.
That this was happening late in the third quarter, and not in the final minutes of the game, only made things worse. What unfolded over the next few minutes somehow drove the scene even lower. Jayson Tatum casually hit the 40-point mark. Norman Powell was blocked at the rim on a drive in semi-transition. Payton Pritchard took a break from running the Raptors off the court for a rare miss, only for it to be put back with a Robert Williams III dunk. Seconds later, Williams hustled back to block OG Anunoby on a promising pick-and-roll dive.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 