The Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 122 to 94 last night. It was a strange game because the Bucks used to be very frightening, but now they are 24 and 31. Immanuel Quickley had 32 points and 8 assists, which is a lot of basketball for one person to do in a single evening.
Quickley seems to be figuring things out, which is nice for him and everyone else involved. We are currently 34 and 23, a record that makes sense if you do not look at it too closely. People are starting to ask where this team stacks up all time, but I am still thinking about a sandwich I had in 2011 that was mostly just bread.
Standing Room and Hammertoe
Jakob Poeltl might have a back injury that lasts the rest of his career, which is a long time to have a back. Backs are complicated structures, much like the Gardiner Expressway or a game of Mouse Trap. He mentioned something about ongoing treatment, and it makes you realize that being seven feet tall is mostly just a liability for your spine.
My uncle used to say that once your back goes, the rest of you just becomes a passenger. I hope Jakob finds a nice chair or perhaps a very supportive mattress. He is important to the defense, mostly because he is significantly larger than the people trying to score.
The Hamilton Prince Returns
We play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is from Hamilton, a place where people go to look at waterfalls and wonder about the steel industry. He might be injured, but fans are still hoping he shows up at Scotiabank Arena just to exist in the building.
It is interesting how we want to see people even if they cannot do the thing they are famous for doing. It is like going to see a chef just sit in a booth and eat a bag of chips. If Shai is there, we will probably cheer for him because he is Canadian, and we are legally obligated to do that under the Maple Syrup Act of 1974.
The Thunder are good, and the Raptors are trying to be good. Sometimes those two things happen at the same time and create a basketball game. Or we might just watch the lineup tracker and wonder why we feel so tired on a Tuesday. The 2025-26 season is happening, whether we are ready for the historical context or not.