Q4 is big for Toronto in W vs Cleveland; tie in standings
Is there anyone left who doubts the value of Pascal Siakam to the Toronto Raptors, or who questions his ‘max’ contract? If so, all five of you should replay last night’s victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers – I suspect we won’t be hearing from any of you again. Siakam was in beast mode as the Raps held off frequent Cavs comeback attempts, then salted the game away with strong shooting in the fourth quarter. Gary Trent missed another game with his hyperextended big toe (one of those injuries that sounds funny, but really isn’t), however, we welcomed back OG Anunoby with open arms. He shot like he’d never been away, going four of eight from deep.
Pascal, however, threw everyone else’s numbers into the shade, missing just one of seven 3-ball attempts. Toronto also enjoyed a dandy effort from Chris Boucher, whose fine play recently may result in a promotion to the starting unit.
Get on with it, Brian
All well and good, but the purpose of this post isn’t to offer a synopsis of the game; you can get that from a news site. What I want to consider is the playoff situation, as best as we can figure it. I concede the first four spots to the current placeholders: Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Boston. All of them are within two losses of each other, so some churn is likely, but none will be caught (barring a spate of injuries).
The two teams just in front of the Raptors, Chicago and Cleveland, should be in Nick Nurse’s sights. On February 18, the Bulls were 18 games over .500. Today…11. On February 11, the Cavaliers were 13 games over .500. Today…9. Both teams are enduring a prolonged down period, instead of sprinting confidently into the post-season.
How about strength of schedule? Chicago has the toughest path remaining, at .540. Cleveland is next, at .491, while the Raptors have one of the easiest schedules in the NBA left to negotiate, at .470. We needn’t throw a ‘No Play-In!’ party quite yet. The Raptors have proven themselves eminently capable of losing to some of the league’s worst teams. However, 7 of 9 games are at home. The roadies are against Orlando and the Knicks, both of whom are draft lottery-bound.
The Raptors are finally almost entirely healthy. If they finish the season 6-3, they should be able to nudge either the Bulls or Cavs into the play-in. That means Toronto finishes sixth, which results in them facing the East’s third-best team, which will be…who? We’ll consider that topic next time.
- Tags: Toronto Raptors
