Title: Chris Boucher’s career night, Malachi Flynn’s first start and the caveats that come with these Raptors
Date: April 8, 2021
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I wrote about another Raptors loss you can’t really blame them for or take much from as they navigate a world with eight available players.
If ever there were a single night that could sum up the Toronto Raptors, Thursday would be a pretty good candidate.
It’s not just that the Raptors lost 122-113 to the Chicago Bulls, something they’ve done a lot more this year than for most of the last decade. It’s also not just that dropping a game to the team immediately ahead of them in the standings dropped them three games behind a play-in berth, when before the season a more reasonable target would have been home-court advantage in the first round. And it’s not any of the statistical wrinkles that have become commonplace during these darker times, like surrendering a lot of second chances or shooting poorly on 3s or getting peppered in bench scoring.
No, the snapshots from Thursday run far deeper. They are as visceral as they are numerous.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 