Raptors were the hottest team in the NBA in early March, on a league-best four-game winning streak, coming off a solid west coast road swing and having just clinched a playoff spot.
They were gleefully making their pre-season critics eat their words.Then the threat of COVID-19 swept through sports like a prairie fire.
The NBA’s suspension on March 11 was just the first domino to fall in what would become a worldwide swath.Now, 145 days after the Raptors last played a meaningful game — a 101-92 win against the Jazz on March 9 — the Raptors will resume defence of their NBA championship Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers in a world that looks vastly different than when they walked off the court in Utah.