After Toronto’s ugly loss to the starless Lakers, it is difficult to imagine the Raptors playing a meaningful game for the remainder of the season. But with the play-in tournament in sight, the Toronto Raptors may be within arms reach of having the chance to compete for a playoff spot.
Since the Chicago Bulls acquired Nikola Vucevic in a surprising blockbuster trade, the club demonstrated that they were set on making noise in the playoffs this year. Unfortunately, much to their chagrin, the Bulls have only won 3 of their last 10 games. For the Raptors, who are just 1.5 games behind the 10th seeded Bulls, the last play-in spot may actually be achievable – especially if they win tonight’s NBA Eastern Conference showdown.
With Vanvleet, Lowry, and Hood still out of the lineup, it will be an uphill battle for the already struggling Tampa Bay team. Catch this game on TSN4 tonight at 7:30PM EST.
The story was all too predictable for the Toronto Raptors tonight versus their 10th seeded rival Chicago Bulls. After building a lead early, the Raptors quickly fell behind to a 20-point deficit. This point margin carried all the way into the fourth quarter by which point it was too late.
The Toronto Raptors also posted only 19 assists for the entire game. The ball was not moving for Toronto, but it was sinking for Boucher. Chris Boucher launched into the stratosphere this evening. The Montréal native finished the game with 38 points on 58% shooting along with 19 rebounds, 9 of which were offensive.
But with a performance that spectacular, how were the Raptors so far behind? The answer was the bench. Being outscored 47 – 20 the Toronto bench demonstrated why they are one of the least impactful in the entire league.
Hopefully, following Vanvleet and Bembry’s one game suspensions, the club can bounce back. But at the moment, the lottery seems to be well in sight.
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