The Raptors’ 31-0 Run Was As Gross As It Was Great To Behold
March 30, 2026
Defector
The phrase 31-0 run in basketball might trigger visions of rhapsodic, jogo bonito ball movement, virtuosic shooting, and impregnable defense. The actual 31-0 run achieved by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday looked a little more ordinary than that. If there was anything spectacular on display, it was the incompetence of the team on the receiving end: the Orlando Magic, who have now lost seven of their last eight games as they slip into play-in territory.
In truth, it requires both the goodness of one team and badness of another to produce such a historic event. The Raptors' 31-0 run was the largest of the NBA's play-by-play era, which began with the 1997-98 season. They would only build on that run to win 139-87, delivering the worst loss in Magic franchise history. Give Toronto precisely as much credit as they deserve. They are ranked fifth in the league by defensive rating, and they're a strong team on that side of the floor even when missing one of their best defenders, the faintly Draymondian rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, as they were last night. Scottie Barnes is a rare gem who, during this game, accumulated 100 blocks and 100 steals in a season, the first to do so since Andre Drummond in 2018-19. The Raptors employ one of the more aggressive schemes in the league, and they applied brutal ball pressure on Orlando, mixing in sudden traps, too. But this defense is not so special that it should ever look quite this difficult for an NBA team to advance the ball past halfcourt in a late-March game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s5jyRggscc
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