The Toronto Raptors suffered from a host of absences and injuries last season that meant their core players hardly got to play together. Wondering what Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley look like together? It's largely an unknown.
That mystery continued into the Raptors' first preseason game. Scottie Barnes missed the game due to a personal matter, while Quickley sat out nursing a wrist injury. Bruce Brown was already out for knee surgery and and Ja'Kobe Walter for a strained AC joint. Building chemistry inside of lineups remains out of reach.
Yet that didn't stop the Raptors from laying the beatdown on the Washington Wizards in a game played in Montreal. The short-handed Toronto squad still went deep in players and they beat the Wizards early, often and consistently. After a 34-16 first quarter set the tone, the Raptors maintained the margin and then added another 10 points to it in the fourth for a 125-98 final score.
Lots of Raptors saw playing time
In total, 16 players saw the court for the Raptors, and all but two played double-digit minutes. That's the nature of the preseason, but it was certainly encouraging to see how well they performed despite the details of the rotation being in flux.
Which players stood out the most in the destruction of Washington? Were they any who had a mediocre game? Let's take a closer look and highlight the best and worst parts of Sunday night's win.