The Toronto Raptors continue their road trip with a game against the Detroit Pistons.
These things are sent to try us...
If you, like I, watched the Wicked (part 1) movie this weekend you’ll recognize that lyric from Galinda in “What is this Feeling?”
Now, this writer is first and foremost a theatre kid (#chelsealore) who is now integrated into the sports world... so you’ll have to forgive a Wicked themed Raptors preview.
The thing is, Wicked (like most musicals) mirrors life. Musicals turn the ordinary into magic, and what could this Toronto Raptors team use right now? A little magic...
Road trips in sports are meant to try us, they aren’t ideal. You’re hopping through time zones, sleeping in hotels, playing in different arenas. You’re the opps — the arenas are against you.
To use another Wicked lyric... No one mourns the road trip.
The Raptors started their week-long trip last night in Cleveland, where they lost a hard fought battle 122-108. They’ll be back tonight already, now in Detroit to face the 7-11 Pistons in a game that is the closest the team can get to a home atmosphere on the road.
Just like the flying monkeys soar over Oz, Canadians will soar into Detroit to see their Raptors play tonight, so that’s a little comforting. A little bit of home on the yellow brick road...
Toronto Raptors: Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick (?)
Detroit Pistons: Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr, Jalen Duran, Jaden Ivey, Malik Beasley
Toronto Raptors: Gradey Dick (Day-to-Day — Calf), OUT: Brown (conditioning), Quickley (Elbow), Olynyk (back), Walter (GLeague), Chomche (GLeague), Carton (GLeague)
Detroit Pistons: Doubtful: Cade Cunningham (hip), OUT: Bobi Klintman (calf)
Look, our leading boy Fiyero doesn’t have it easy. One of the original Himbo’s, Fiyero masks his deep discontent with life with being the life of the party. If you don’t stop dancing, you can’t be sad, right? Obviously that is not a long-term solution, but there is a lesson in dancing through life that the Raptors can take.
I think we’ve all come to the conclusion that perhaps not much will come for this team this season when it comes to tangible results. That’s okay. It’s the intangibles that we are focusing on this season. Yet, there is still joy to be had. There’s still highlights and moments of light. Things can be hard and fun at the same time.
Sure, at some point, you need to be taking some action — but the Raptors are in their dancing through life phase right now. Ride the lows, celebrate the highs, and wait for it to come together.
Last season the Raptors ended up being the joke of the NBA when they were the ones to hand the Pistons the win needed to break their historic losing streak... can’t get much worse than that, right? The Raptors will either notch another line in the win column tonight, or they’ll lose, and either way it won’t be as bad as ending a historic losing streak...
Despite their 4-13 record, the Raptors haven’t felt like a terrible team. Many players are succeeding despite the losses.
Gradey Dick for example, has set multiple 30+ point career-highs over the course of the team’s first 17 games. Though he may not play tonight after straining his calf in last night’s Cleveland game, his second year leap has been incredibly fun to watch.
RJ Barrett is another highlight, steadying the team while they’ve waited for some of their players to return from injury. He is averaging a career-high 23.2 points per game, scoring 20+ points in four of the team’s last five games. He’s also scored in double digits in all games he’s played this season apart from one.
Another part of Barrett’s game that’s received a makeover is his playmaking. He is averaging a career high in assists, 6.2 per game.
Jakob Poeltl is also having a great season. He ranks 5th in the NBA among centers for rebounds per game (12.3), and 5th in the league for % of points in the paint (83.1%) as well as points in the paint per game (13.9). He’s 4th league-wide for 2nd chance points per game as well (4.8). Safe to say he’s having an All-Star season?
Okay, so technically they have to play by the rules of the NBA’s game, fine. Yet, just like Elphaba stays true to herself and her desire to use her powers for good, the Raptors can have a good season without having a good season. That may not make sense when you read it the first time, but let me explain it better.
The Raptors are 4-13, and the 76ers are 3-13. On paper, both bad right? Yet, when you look deeper at the context you could say the Raptors are having a decent season and the 76ers are having a bad season. I mean, no one expected the Raptors to have a good record, yet the 76ers were expected to be championship contenders. Well, you know how that’s going for them.
Yes, I love a chance to bag on the sixers (sorry Philly friends), but also a good lesson in breaking away from the traditional binary of winning and losing. Sometimes losing is fun, sometimes being Wicked is good — but that’s a point for when Wicked part 2 comes out next year. If you’ve seen the stage musical... well you know what I mean.
So, Raptor fans, get into your flying bubble and watch the Toronto Raptors play the Detroit Pistons tonight at 7PM :)
