As bad as it was losing by 41 at home, it could get worse for Raptors

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Peel back the many layers of the Raptors’ humiliating loss to the Pels and few, if any, encouraging signs emerged.

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At least some of the fans still in the building expressed their displeasure by booing the home team, whose 41-point loss was the worst in franchise history.

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At one point, team faithful chanted the name of Chris Boucher, one of the team’s three Canadians on the roster and one of three players who did not see the field. For Boucher, he hasn’t played in five of the last six games.

No one expected the Raptors to win Tuesday night and while no one could have witnessed the franchise’s worst home loss, a blowout seemed inevitable. In two games against New Orleans, the Raptors lost by a total of 79 points.

When an opponent can score three points as if they were layups, nights like Tuesday, while embarrassing, are a fact of life in the NBA.

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After beating Toronto last Friday night, the Golden State Warriors traveled to Boston and were destroyed 140-88 on Sunday.

At the end of the 2021 season, the Raptors, who had lost 13 of their previous 14 games, handed the Dubs a 53-point loss at home.

“You saw it,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the 130-77 loss to Toronto. “We have just been destroyed. Not much to say. Humiliating for everyone involved.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic wasn’t as outspoken after his team’s rout, but there wasn’t much to say.

Few people remember or care, but the Raptors started the night going on an 8-0 run. Then came the onslaught that would see the Pelicans drain 24 of 49 attempts from beyond the three-point arc.

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The Raptors haven’t been this badly outplayed at home since the end of the club’s very first season in 1995, when greats such as Penny and Shaq came to SkyDome as members of the Orlando Magic.

This time, names like Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have imposed their will on the Raptors.

When a team is this exhausted, defeats of this magnitude are more than possible. But the Raptors must now turn the page as a four-game road trip begins with a date in Phoenix on Thursday night.

With 20 games left in what is now officially a lost season, it’s anyone’s guess how many games the Raptors are capable of winning.

If nights like Tuesday are repeated, then serious questions need to be asked – whether they involve the management and how they put together this current roster or whether the message sent by Rajakovic and his team fell on the ears of a deaf.

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There is a lack of familiarity with injuries, a lack of size, skill and depth, the ingredients that will lend themselves to what will play out against the Pelicans.

New Orleans is a good team contending for a top-six spot in the West playoff race. The way the Raptors defended made the Pels look like championship contenders.

Tuesday would begin with Kelly Olynyk’s press conference held at the team’s practice facility to discuss his two-year extension. It would end with the news that Jakob Poeltl (left little finger) had had surgery.

To recap, in Toronto’s 1-3 home game, Scottie Barnes (left middle) would be injured, followed by Poeltl’s injury.

Bruce Brown was unavailable due to knee discomfort, capped by Ochai Agbaji forced out on Tuesday due to knee pain.

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Even if the Raptors need to bounce back from Tuesday’s beating, no one should rule out further embarrassments when looking at this club’s current roster.

With Kevin Durant on the roster, it’s unclear what the Suns are capable of if they’re allowed to shoot.

Durant scored 35 points in Denver to help the Suns beat the defending champions on Tuesday, a night when the Nuggets came back from a 22-point deficit to force overtime.

The Raptors will travel to the Mile High City to face the Nuggets and Kitchener native Jamal Murray on Monday night.

After Thursday’s tip in Phoenix, the Raptors will be in Portland for a meeting on Saturday. The trip ends in the Motor City next Wednesday, when the Pistons host the Raptors.

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Of Toronto’s 20 remaining games, three are against teams with worse records than the Raptors, plus two games against the equally inept Brooklyn Nets. The remaining 15 games feature opponents who find themselves in the hunt for play-in.

Play-in is no longer an option for the Raptors. Playing with the type of defensive intensity that drew criticism of the Pels on Tuesday isn’t an option either.

Professionalism and integrity must be preserved, areas which will be lost when lopsided losses begin to pile up.

Gradey Dick is finishing his rookie season, but he can’t play 27 minutes and score two points like he did against New Orleans when he missed all five of his attempts from distance.

It was supposed to be a development and transition season, where wins and losses weren’t the true measuring stick.

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Tuesday evening’s annihilation arrives and everything changes.

No Barnes, no Poeltl, no realistic possibility of maintaining competitive balance – unless the opposition is the Charlotte Hornets.

Neither player is expected to be asked to play again this season, but others need to step up.

Rajakovic had his hands full when he decided to take the job, knowing that two of his best players, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, would not be there for the long haul.

With Barnes and Poeltl now on the board, coaching this Raptors unit becomes even more difficult to the point where it’s virtually impossible to record a win against a quality team.

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