The Toronto Raptors beat the Dallas Mavericks 122 to 92 on Sunday night. It was a thirty point win, which is a lot of points. Sometimes I think about what thirty points looks like in real life, like thirty apples or thirty used copies of a DVD, and it seems like a manageable amount.
In basketball it means the other team stopped caring around the middle of the third quarter. Luka Doncic looked like he wanted to be at a very specific cafe back in Slovenia instead of a chilly arena in Ontario. I understand that feeling, mostly because I also wanted to be at a cafe in Slovenia (I have never been there, but the pictures look peaceful).
The Geometry of Triumph
The win pushed us to game 63 of the season. Someone on the internet is sketching a picture after every game, which is a lot of commitment. I can barely commit to finishing a bag of milk before it smells like a basement.
Sixty three sketches is a lot of graphite. It makes me wonder what the sketches look like after a loss. Are they sadder? Is the Raptor wearing a hat? Basketball art is a curious thing, because it tries to make a fast thing look very still.
The Eternal Promise of Toppings
Because we won and scored many points, there is a QR code for free pizza. This is the main reason many people attend these games, I suspect. They sit through the fouls and the reviews and the loud music just to secure a slice of dough that tastes slightly like the box it came in.
It is a beautiful cycle, really. We provide the noise, they provide the hoops, and eventually, some corporate entity provides the pepperoni. My uncle says free pizza tastes better because of the lack of transaction, but I think he just likes things that do not involve opening his wallet.
Life Beyond the Perimeter
I saw some news about a former Raptor who was banned for life for gambling. He had a triple double in a different league recently. It is strange how life works (you can be banned from the big shiny room but still be very good at putting the ball in the hole in a smaller, less shiny room).
A triple double is ten of three different things. If I had ten coffees, ten naps, and ten thoughts about the 2007 roster, that would be my version of a triple double. Jorge Garbajosa would probably be in there somewhere. He was a very sturdy player who wore his socks quite high.
The season continues whether we are ready for it or not. There are more games, more sketches, and presumably, more opportunities for discounted snacks. We keep watching because the alternative is doing something productive, and nobody really wants that on a Tuesday night.