The Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 139 to 87 on Sunday night. At one point, our team scored thirty one points in a row while the other team scored zero points. This is the longest run of its kind since 1997, which is the year they started keeping track of these things properly.
I was at a hardware store once and saw a guy try to carry four bags of mulch at the same time. He dropped all of them, and then he just stood there looking at the mulch. That is what the first quarter felt like for Orlando. They were winning 20 to 14, and then they simply stopped participating in the concept of professional basketball for about eight minutes.
The Math of Doing Nothing
Orlando committed twelve turnovers in the first quarter alone. If you did that at your job, someone would eventually ask you to leave the building. The Magic finished with twenty eight turnovers in total. The Raptors turned those mistakes into thirty seven points, which is a lot of points to get for free.
Scottie Barnes had twenty three points and fifteen assists. Fifteen assists is a career high for him. It is nice to see him passing the ball so much, although sometimes I wonder if he is just being polite. RJ Barrett scored twenty four points, mostly because the hoop was usually unoccupied by defenders.
Absences and Observations
Brandon Ingram did not play because his right heel is sore. He was joined on the bench by Immanuel Quickley and Collin Murray Boyles. It seems we are missing quite a few starters lately. My uncle says that if you eat enough ginger, your heels will never hurt, but he also thinks the shot clock is a government conspiracy.
The Raptors are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference. Being fifth feels like being the middle child at a very loud dinner party. You are there, and you are doing fine, but nobody is really asking you how your day went.
Orlando only made thirty one baskets the entire game. We had a thirty one to zero run. It is a strange coincidence that the numbers matched up like that. Most things in life do not match up so neatly, like socks or the way a door frame sits in an old house in Scarborough. I suppose we should enjoy the win, though I mostly feel tired for everyone involved.