The Toronto Raptors, on Tuesday night, suffered a disappointing 116-107 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder at home. What made this loss all the more disappointing for the Raptors was that the Thunder were shorthanded; the reigning champions were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, but Toronto allowed Cason Wallace to pop off to the tune of 27 points on 11-16 shooting from the field and 4-5 from beyond the arc.
This loss isn't that concerning when taken in isolation. The Thunder have a deep squad that has remained shadangerous despite SGA and J-Dub's absences, and losing to the best team in the NBA is nothing to be ashamed of. But a deeper dive into the Raptors' results expose a very alarming trend that does not bode well for their chances of mounting a deep playoff run.
As pointed out by Josh Lewenberg of TSN, the Raptors are now 4-14 against the NBA's top-10 teams (in terms of win-loss record). Three of those wins came against the Cleveland Cavaliers before they brought in James Harden and rejuvenated the team, with the other one coming against OKC back in late January.
The Raptors have routinely struggled against the best teams in the NBA, but the old adage states that to be the best, one has got to beat the best. So far, Toronto is not passing that test.
Raptors may be a piece short yet of being a legitimate contender
The Raptors may be running into the problem that their best shot-creator can get locked up against teams with elite defenses. Brandon Ingram has shown in the past that he can struggle when he faces a ton of defensive pressure, and the other core players for Toronto aren't at the level where they can help compensate for each other's weaknesses.
This is not to say that Toronto is a bad team; they have a good 34-24 record for a reason. But the front office's pursuit of stars on the trade market is telling of how they view this current squad.
