The Toronto Raptors were officially eliminated from Play-In/Playoff contention with their recent loss to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
Immanuel Quickley scored 17 points and Ja’Kobe Walter continued to impress as he chipped in with 17 points as well. Orlando Robinson had 13 points from off the bench. As for Scottie Barnes it was another rough game for him offensively. He scored just 9 points on 4-for-14 shooting in 24 minutes of action.
It was always going to be a long shot for the Raptors to sneak into the Play-In Tournament, but they kept things somewhat interesting thanks to their easy schedule.
The Raptors haven’t been monitoring wins and losses. The second half of the season for them has been all about player development and playing for their draft lottery odds. Despite playing .500 basketball since the new year, the Raptors weren’t interested in going for it this season.
They have routinely rested their starters game-to-game and have benched key players in the fourth quarter of games.
Now the Raptors will look to lock in the 7th best lottery odds with 6 games left in the regular season.
They are 3.5 games up on the San Antonio Spurs in the reverse standings. Toronto could also still mathematically catch the Brooklyn Nets for the 6th best odds. However, it will be tough as the Nets are 3 games up on them. The Raptors do play the Nets one more time this season on April 6.
The Raptors wrap up their season with matchups against the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons, Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks and Spurs.
This marks the third straight year that the Raptors have missed out on the postseason.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joins Drake in latest music video
Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appeared in Toronto rapper Drake’s latest music video.
Gilgeous-Alexander made a brief cameo in the black-and-white visual for “NOKIA,” as he debuted his upcoming Converse signature sneaker, the SHAI001.
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