Brandon Ingram has right heel inflammation. It is a specific type of pain, I imagine, like stepping on a very small, very expensive lego. He is questionable for the game against the Orlando Magic, which is unfortunate because the Magic are currently a problem we have to solve.
The Eastern Conference standings are currently a crowded elevator. The Sixers and the Hawks both won their games recently, which means the Raptors are hovering in fifth place. If they lose tomorrow, they could drop to seventh, which is a number I have never particularly enjoyed.
The Development of Scottie
Scottie Barnes is working on his isolation scoring and his role as a roll man. It is interesting to watch a person grow in real time, like a tree that also happens to be very good at passing a basketball. He is trying to find space in places where space usually does not exist.
At my uncle's shop, we used to have a shelf that was slightly crooked, and everything stayed on it by accident. Scottie's offensive game is a bit like that shelf. It looks like it might fail, but then it results in two points, and everyone just accepts it as a law of physics.
Looking Toward the Future
People are already talking about the 2026 NBA Mock Draft. It feels strange to look that far ahead, considering I am still not entirely sure what I am having for lunch today. Looking at draft boards is a bit like looking at real estate listings for houses that have not been built yet.
We look at these teenagers and wonder if they will be the ones to help us forget about the mid 2020s. It is a heavy burden for a kid who probably still has a curfew. We are always searching for the next person to carry the ball, while the current people are still dealing with heel inflammation.
The Math of the Standings
The tiebreaker with Orlando is on the line tomorrow. Math was never my favorite subject, mostly because it rarely felt as stressful as a Tuesday night game in March. We need to win to keep pace, which is a phrase people use when they are tired of running.
There are many Raptors appearing on various statistical leaderboards lately, though the results are varying. Some are at the top, and some are just... there. It is like a group photo where half the people were not ready, but the photographer took the picture anyway because he had a bus to catch.