Cole Anthony, Magic hand Raptors their second consecutive loss

For the second consecutive night, the Toronto Raptors suffered a home loss to an opponent that sits towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, falling 103-97 to the Orlando Magic.

With the loss on Friday night, Toronto falls to 34-29 on the season while Orlando moves to 16-48 on the year.

Pascal Siakam was the lone bright spot for the Raptors, scoring 34 points (on 14 of 20 shooting) to go along with 14 rebounds, but he did commit five turnovers in this one. The Magic were led by 15 points from Cole Anthony, who also pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out five assists.

Here are some thoughts from the buzzer.

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The injury report

Thaddeus Young returned to action for the Raptors on Friday but Fred VanVleet (knee) and OG Anunoby (finger) remained sidelined.

For the Magic, Markelle Fultz was sidelined as part of his injury management and Wendell Carter Jr. was a game-day scratch. Michael Carter-Williams and Jonathan Isaac, both of whom have not played in the 2021-22 season, were not active in Toronto.

The streak ends

Toronto entered the night having won nine consecutive regular-season games over Orlando. In fact, the last time the Magic defeated the Raptors was on Feb. 24, 2019.

Over three years later, Orlando has put the streak to an end. 

To put it in perspective, the last time the Magic beat the Raptors before tonight, Scottie Barnes and Jalen Suggs were high school juniors.

Orlando’s balanced attack

The Magic’s win wasn’t a product of anything the team did exceptionally well, nor was it the product of outstanding play from one particular player.

Orlando actually shot just 38.5 percent from the field in this one and no player scored more than Anthony, who finished with 15 points. 

count it @The_ColeAnthony ?

?: https://t.co/KZMppui6bl pic.twitter.com/5rP1yVZLZI

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) March 5, 2022

That said, Anthony was one of seven players to finish in double figures, as Mo Bamba added 14 points, Jalen Suggs and Gary Harris each scored 13 points while R.J. Hampton and Franz Wagner chipped in with 11 apiece to lead the attack.

Raptors search for answers

On each of the last two nights, it’s been painfully clear that the Raptors were without two of their best players.

The ball moved more than it did on Thursday but Toronto’s offence lacked a punch as it entered the halftime break with just 39 points.

To find a solution, Nick Nurse tinkered with the rotation, giving Svi Mykhailiuk minutes in the first quarter and looking to Yuta Watanabe in the fourth, which, in spurts, each paid dividends to a small extent, but wasn’t enough to reverse the outcome.

? THIS WHOLE SEQUENCE ? pic.twitter.com/nOzWkkBaOz

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 5, 2022

Raptors not named Pascal Siakam shot 24 of 73 (32.9 percent) from the field and 10 of 34 (29.4 percent) from 3-point range. The injuries are a valid explanation for why, but they’ll need to quickly find a fix with less than 20 games remaining.

A rough week for Gary Trent Jr. continues

Slumps happen in the NBA and Trent is currently in the midst of a rough one.

After shooting a combined 13 of 50 (26.0 percent) from the field and 7 of 29 (24.1 percent) from 3-point range to start the week, Trent went 2 of 12 (16.6 percent) from the field and missed all nine of his 3-point attempts.

Shooters shoot, though, and Trent looks poised to emerge from his slump. As the Raptors’ road gets tougher, they’ll need their sharpshooter to get back in his groove.

Impact on the Play-In Tournament picture

As bad as the Raptors’ last two losses have been, two wins over the Nets to open the week somewhat soften the blows as the seventh-seeded Raptors still have some breathing room over the eighth-seeded Nets.

Making matters worse, however, is that the Cavs have dropped three in a row, which would have presented the Raptors with an opportunity to jump out of the Play-In Tournament and into a top-six seed.

With 19 games remaining, there is still plenty to be decided.

What’s next?

The road ahead gets tough for the Raptors — literally.

Sunday, Toronto begins a six-game road trip when it visits the Cleveland Cavaliers. That one will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on TSN and for a national audience in the United States on ESPN.

Catch you then.