Toronto Raptors refuse to make excuses with packed schedule this week

By Canadian Press on December 5, 2025.

TORONTO — Darko Rajakovic is making no excuses for the Toronto Raptors, even as they have to play six games in a nine-day span, including two sets of back-to-backs.

Toronto lost back-to-back games to the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks last weekend, beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday before hosting the Hornets on Friday. They’ll finish the packed stretch when they host the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

“This is the NBA. There is no place for fatigue,” said Rajakovic after Rui Hachimura hit a buzzer-beating three as L.A. beat the Raptors 123-120 on Thursday. “There is another game tomorrow, you know?

“We’ve just got to get ready, get our shoes ready, laces up, and then go and hoop. The schedule cannot be an excuse for us.”

This week’s quick turnaround from the Lakers to the Hornets is the fourth back-to-back of the Raptors’ young season. Toronto is 3-4 so far in those back-to-backs after losing to Los Angeles.

Rajakovic said that when he first moved to North America from Europe and started coaching for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G-League team, then-general manager Paul Rivers gave him some advice about the NBA’s scheduling.

“First thing that he told me is, ‘When you look at a schedule, don’t try to make any common sense out of it,'” Rajakovic said Wednesday after a team practice. “That was my lesson for the G-League and NBA.

“It is just taking one game at a time, obviously. When you play five games in seven nights, you really try to emphasize recovery with players.”

Preventive medicine has been impactful for Toronto in back-to-backs as — at least so far this season — starting centre Jakob Poeltl has sat out one half of all of the Raptors’ back-to-backs, including Thursday night.

Rajakovic said before the game against L.A. that Poeltl made the decision to play against the Hornets rather than the Lakers.

“Hopefully over the next couple of weeks he can get there, to play both of the games,” said Rajakovic. “We talked to him yesterday. He did not feel great in the practice. We went pretty short. He did not bounce back from the last game well.

“We talked about it. He decided it’s better for him and his back to get one extra day here and get ready for the second game.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press