After a less than pleasant end to last week’s road trip on Sunday, the Toronto Raptors will be returning to Scotiabank Arena for two games against the Orlando Magic, where they’ll have an exciting Halloween theme night, and the beginning of NBA Cup contention.
The second week of the season will see the Raptors attempt to recover some momentum after a disastrous loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road on October 25th, and what better way to do that than with some festivities? While Kawhi Leonard’s
status is currently still up in the air, the Raptors will be readying themselves for two matchups with a team also missing their premier forward, Paolo Banchero, and potentially, their point guard Jalen Suggs.
Their first matchup will take place on October 28th at 7:30 PM, and will serve as the Raptors’ Halloween game, featuring a costume contest for fans, a special arena, and the return of the glow in the dark skeleton Raptor merch.
There are few things cooler than dinosaurs, but undead skeleton dinosaurs? Nothing beats that.
Then, on Friday, October 30th, the Raptors have another duel with the Magic, this time, for positioning in the Emirates NBA Cup. The former In-Season Tournament is in its fourth year of existence, and the Raptors could be gunning to win it all with Kawhi Leonard back on the roster.
In the tournament’s initial group stage, the Raptors are facing off against the Magic, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons, and the Brooklyn Nets. The Pistons are the only team that appear to be on the Raptors’ level, so if health does not become a concern for the squad, the Raps could be a shoo-in to advance to the next stage of the tournament this year, and maybe take the NBA Cup north of the border for the first time.
One unfortunate matter is that of the NBA Cup court, which has this awful use of grey, and a logo that is vaguely reminiscent of the new Nike Standard Issue Collection that has hit NBA teams recently. I find that the Standard Issue gear looks a lot better in person than it does online, so perhaps the court will be less disappointing than it seems, but having relegating a team with such a vibrant design history to red and grey is just disappointing.
A far cry from the Raptors’ kick-ass skeleton dinosaurs, much of the modern NBA’s aesthetic — defined in large part by partnership with Nike — comes off as soulless and uninteresting, churning out safe, corporate approved graphic design that is a far cry from the league’s colourful past.
Thankfully, the Raptors have an interesting week ahead of them with these two theme nights and the first series the Toronto will play, featuring games against the same team one-after-another. The Raps will get well acquainted with a battered Magic team, and hopefully take both games as redemption for what happened in Minnesota yesterday night.
