In the midst of the mid-season blahs, the Raptors are working hard to cultivate motivational grudges.
Brooklyn seems like an obvious target. They're old, rich, owned by a shifty Russian oligarch and awash in smug hipsterdom. The Nets are the Coldplay of sports franchises – people watch them, but no one really likes them.
But in their first return to Manhattan Jr. since last year's playoff run, the Raptors couldn't find the strength to care. The Nets – God love them – are too terrible to hate. Except when it turned out they weren't.
"I don't think there's anything," said Kyle Lowry, assessing how grudgey a grudge match this was.
Do you have a rival, someone asked DeMar DeRozan.
"Us? No. We working on it, though. I wish we had one. Hopefully, we can get one soon."
Off in the distance, a single tear fell down the terrifying facemask of the NBA's worst defunct mascot, the Brooklyn Knight.
A year ago, this all felt like it mattered. Brooklyn was a team built on a lot of money and a very little bit of brains. They were the perfect foil for the arrivistes from up north.
The whole thing's in the midst of collapsing. The team isn't experienced any more – it's old. Their owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, is apparently considering selling. Who can blame him? If the Clippers are worth $2-billion, what's a New York-based franchise complete with state-of-the-art arena worth?
It's almost depressing, watching what should be a robust franchise sinking slowly under the competitive water. Almost. Mostly, it's just fun. (Expletive) Brooklyn.
Now, even the people who pay to watch the team can't even pretend it matters. The Nets have the latest arriving crowd in the NBA – worse than Miami's. The only people in the building when it started were travelling Toronto support.
The Raptors went up 10-0 early, and the crowd cheered. Cheered!
Later in the first half, DeRozan had a clear break on the basket, slowed, laid it in, and the crowd booed. Booed!
The Nets don't do much very well any more. Certain things they don't do at all – such as defend. Led by DeRozan's muscular effort, they just managed to get by Brooklyn, 127-122, in overtime. It's the Raptors fifth straight win. They head to Washington on Saturday for a tough end to a back-to-back.
If they hadn't already, the Raptors won the Atlantic on Friday night. They're 9-0 in the division – the only team in the league that remains unbeaten in divisional play. They're 131/2 games ahead of Brooklyn. They're guaranteed no worse than fourth place in the East. It gets a tougher on Saturday night against a more formidable slugging partner, Washington.
They're no longer comers. ESPN is preparing to embed a reporting team with them for the rest of the year. The Raptors have fully arrived.
And yet, Toronto still makes desultory attempts to maintain their outsider credentials.
So, all this 'nobody respects us' boilerplate is beginning to seem enjoyably contrived.
DeRozan seemed surprised that he wasn't made an all-star reserve, despite missing half the season. Which was surprising to us.
"I ain't got no comment on it," DeRozan said. "I'm happy Kyle's starting, honestly. It is what it is."
You know what they say about any sentence you need to prop up with the word 'honestly.'
Even Jonas Valanciunas seemed put out that he hadn't been tapped for the pointless mid-season showcase. He didn't say anything, just moped a bit. This is a guy who doesn't play in the fourth quarter. He's good. He's not that good.
Coach Dwane Casey continued on his latest tack – assailing the team's helicopter coaches.
"We're in the best place the franchise has ever been. Every day, all I hear is questions about what we're not doing, what they're not doing," Casey said. "Take Atlanta out of the equation, I'd argue our guys are playing as well as a team as anybody in the league … We're ahead of the curve."
The coach asked observers to embrace what he called "the karma of positivity."
Casey turned to the warrior-poets in the travelling press for rhetorical back-up: "Is that right?"
Right?! I've already signed a book deal. So far, I've got a title and … well, so far, I've got a title.
Casey isn't talking to the media or fans. He's talking to his players – "They read things. They listen to things."
Most coaches discourage reading, and quite rightly. No good ever comes of it. Casey wants his men to use it as fuel. He knows the fire in the belly is more of a wet smoulder at this point in the year.
A year ago, you'd hoped that the Raptors and Nets might reprise their playoff meeting. That seems unlikely now.
"It's kinda crazy how things turn full circle," Lowry said of all that's happened in a year.
That would suggest the Raptors are returning somewhere. Instead, they're off in search of something new and more sustainable.
Cathal Kelly