Title: Raptors served painful lessons as late-game execution falters in OT loss
Date: October 27, 2023
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I broke down a dramatic — not a compliment! — overtime loss to the Bulls that shows there’s plenty of work still to be done with the new-ish Raptors.
Not too long ago, NBA teams would play seven or eight preseason games to get ready for the season. Nobody enjoyed it. It was longer than necessary to make decisions on end-of-roster battles, and in the era of being particular about player workloads, undue strain as players ramped up for the real games.
On Friday night in Chicago, the Raptors and Bulls offered a reminder of why there was, back in the day, a justification for an extended exhibition schedule.
The Raptors came up on the wrong end of a 104-103 overtime decision, though both teams will probably forget the game and burn the tape. Both have games to play on back-to-backs tomorrow, and while film can be a helpful learning tool, these 53 minutes skewed a little too close to a gory scene from the Saw franchise than is appropriate even at Halloween. Chalk it up to an in-season tune-up and promise yourself it can’t get any uglier Saturday.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 