Blake Murphy Sports Writing

MONTREAL — Moving their training camp around Canada every year serves a pretty clear purpose for the Toronto Raptors: To continue to grow their fanbase around the country, bringing their brand of basketball to markets and people who may not otherwise get a chance to experience it.

It’s fitting, then, that Friday’s open scrimmage at McGill University came down to a few of the team’s Canadian players deciding the outcome.

On one side, RJ Barrett and long-time (and multi-time!) Raptor Jakob Poeltl orchestrated what parts of the Raptors offence they could without the full complement of starters. On the other, Kelly Olynyk had his role expanded and Chris Boucher brought his usual brand of high-energy play. Down a number of key rotation pieces, the trio of Canadians and one of the longest-serving Raptors in Poeltl – plus a very motivated Ochai Agbaji – would be the determinants in whether Team Grey (“Toronto”) or Team Black (“Raptors”) won the crowd over.

It was an intrasquad scrimmage so competitive, and so tight, that it required overtime to decide a winner.