No RJ Barrett to provide offence, no Jakob Poeltl to provide the necessary presence on the glass and a starting group that made club history because of its age.
And did anyone mention Scottie Barnes’ return after missing two games because of an ankle sprain some had speculated would require weeks to heal.
Under this backdrop a game was played when the Brooklyn Nets paid a Thursday night visit to Scotiabank Arena.
By any standard or metric, neither team is good as evidenced by their combined 17-36 record entering the night, each side dealing with a depleted roster.
Still, for the first time this season the bookies had the Raptors as slight favourites.
Nothing comes easy for the Raptors and Thursday was no exception in their 104-94 loss, which begged the question whether it was in Toronto’s best interest when taking into account the big picture to post its eighth win of the season.
As well as they sizzled in the third quarter when launching threes, the Raptors fizzled in the fourth when Brooklyn drew even.
Once again, the Raptors were in a tight game, once again their play plagued by turnovers.
Brooklyn’s Cameron Johnson emerged as the game’s best player in crunch time as the Raptors wilted under the pressure.
It was Toronto’s sixth successive defeat.
Granted, the team was undermanned and decidedly inexperienced, but the Raptors’ fourth quarter futility was inexcusable.
When someone needed to guard Johnson, no Raptor stepped up defensively.
He was unstoppable en route to a game-high 33 points, including 13 in the fateful fourth when he took over the game.
Barnes ended the night by scoring 16 points in 36 minutes.
He recorded only three rebounds and had three turnovers and needed to be better, but he wasn’t alone on this night, especially in the decisive fourth.
At least the teams competed hard, even when it was hard to watch for extended stretches.
At halftime, the Nets were leading, 52-46, and were enjoying a 31-16 advantage on the boards.
There was even a player ejection for aggressively throwing the rock out of bounds.
To add an additional layer to the night was the engagement level shown by Ben Simmons, who even showed a rare moment of emotion.
Given the Raptors’ roster limitation, so much was on Barnes’ plate and Gradey Dick.
A deep three by Barnes, who showed no hesitation in heaving his shot, gave the Raptors a third-quarter lead.
Great ball movement off penetration led to another Raptors three-pointer, this one courtesy of Ochai Agbaji.
A Dick three-ball was Toronto’s fifth of the quarter on six attempts.
Toronto’s three-point proficiency, combined with Brooklyn’s inefficiency, continued as a 10-point lead would be established and a 76-70 advantage created heading into the fourth period.
Eight of Toronto’s 14 makes from distance through three quarters were drained by Dick and Agbaji, who each accounted for four.
FOR THE RECORD
On a night the Raptors paid homage to their history by unveiling a court similar to the one used in the club’s inaugural tip 30 years ago when the New Jersey based Nets visited SkyDome, Toronto made its own history.
Injuries to Barrett and Poeltl meant the Raptors went with a starting group punctuated by youth.
At 24 years old, Agbaji was the senior statesman of the unit.
Collectively, the average age of the group checked in 22 years and two months, making it the youngest starting unit the Raptors have ever fielded.
Barnes, by far, was the most accomplished, even though he’s in his fourth year.
As a group, Toronto’s starters had a combined six years of NBA experience
Two rookies in Ja’Kobe Walter, 20, and Jonathan Mogbo, 23, started.
For Mogbo, it was his second start in a row, only this time it was at centre.
In the game’s opening 12 minutes, four different Raptors drilled at least one three-pointer, while four different players recorded a dunk.
No free throws were attempted.
Toronto was a plus-6 in turnover points and a minus-7 on the glass, which only underscored Poeltl’s absence, as the first period ended with the teams tied, 24-24.
The evening was officially dubbed Era’s Night as the Raptors went nostalgic, including paying tribute to Vince Carter’s iconic slam dunk win during NBA all-star weekend in 2000.
It was also a night when Nets’ big man Nic Claxton was ejected with 8:46 remaining in the second quarter for what was deemed as forcibly throwing the basketball out of bounds.
In 11 minutes, Claxton was playing well, scoring seven points, recording five rebounds and one steal.
It was Claxton’s third ejection of the season.
COACHING MOMENT
Two European-born coaches were leading their respective teams in second-year Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic (Serbia) and Brooklyn’s rookie head coach in Jordi Fernandez (Spain).
Fernandez was hired by Canada Basketball to coach the men’s national team after Nick Nurse accepted the head coaching position with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Under Fernandez, Canada qualified for the Summer Olympics for the first time since the Sydney Games in 2000.
“It was a cool experience,’’ said Fernandez.
“Could it have been better? Yes, but I’m really proud of the guys on how they approached training camp, how they worked, energy, competitiveness, togetherness. I would always want to do it again with them.”
Canada won its group stage, considered the group of death, by going 3-0, but would lose to host France in the quarterfinal elimination round.