National Basketball Association

Raptors (30-20) at Magic (19-32): Preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:28 p.m. ET

Fansided, Brian Boake/FanSided via Raptors Rapture

The Raptors are losing to all and sundry these days. They just ended a sub-.500 January, and threw away a win in Boston to open this month. Can they gather themselves against Orlando?

The Toronto Raptors find themselves in serious need of a victory. Their stellar season is coming apart at the seams just as also-ran squads like the Washington Wizards are finding their groove.

On Tuesday of this week, DeMar DeRozan returned to the lineup after missing games due to an ankle sprain. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic were without arguably their best shooter, Evan Fournier. Easy home victory, right? Wrong. The Raps’ defense took the night off, and one of the NBA’s lowest scoring teams put up 114 points to escape with a victory.

Toronto visits Orlando with thoughts of vengeance on their minds – we hope. The Raptors also better be highly cognizant of the fact they are in danger of slipping into dangerous territory should the losses continue to pile up. The league is topsy-turvy at the moment. The Miami Heat have won 9 straight; the Indiana Pacers have only 2 more losses than Toronto. Guess who has more wins than the Cleveland Cavaliers in their past 10 games? The Philadelphia 76ers. Anybody can beat anybody, so the Raps better stop the sleepwalking.

3 keys to a Raptors win

Jan 29, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) controls a ball as Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) tries to defend during the second quarter in a game at Air Canada Centre. The Orlando Magic won 114-113. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Conclusion & final score

Even without DeRozan, the Raps should be able to handle the Magic, but then I thought that a few days ago.

Once more into the breach, dear friends…

Raptors 109 – Magic 104