Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby, right, blocks Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan during April 12's game in Toronto.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
The Toronto Raptors’ lacklustre season is over, following a tense 109-105 loss to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Play-In tournament.
The Raptors led by as much as 19 points in the third quarter and appeared to have Wednesday’s elimination game well in hand. Then they collapsed down the stretch of a white-knuckled contest, as Zach LaVine and former Raptor DeMar DeRozan ripped it away, sending the Raps packing for the summer.
LaVine had 39 points for the Bulls and DeRozan 23 as they march on the Play-In tournament, looking for one more win to make the playoffs.
Pascal Siakam led the way for Toronto, before a soldout crowd inside Scotiabank Arena, scoring 32 points, while Fred VanVleet added 26, Scottie Barnes 19. They missed 18 free throws though, which will be the number many remember from Wednesday night’s disappointment.
“That’s a lot of misses. We left a lot of points on the board,” said Nurse of all those misses from the line. “You’re not gonna make them all, but if you miss over 10 in a game, it’s really hard to win.”
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The Play-In delivered on all the drama the NBA envisioned, but Toronto wound up on the wrong end of the heartbreak. This marks a rare postseason this decade without the Raptors. Since they began making yearly appearances in the playoffs in the 2013-14 season, the Raps only missed the playoffs during the 2020-21 campaign, one they headquartered in Tampa during the pandemic.
“A lot of ups and downs,” was Siakam’s description of the Raptors ‘22-23 season. “Just not consistent enough.”
With their team now done for the year, Toronto fans will have to settle for watching two beloved ex-Raps play off for the No.8 playoff seed in the East. DeRozan’s Bulls will play off against Kyle Lowry’s Miami Heat on Friday to determine who earns that last playoff spot, and a first round series with the No.1 seed, the Milwaukee Bucks.
It might have been the last game on Toronto’s bench for Nick Nurse, who has been with the franchise for 10 years, and head coach since the 2018-19 season when he helped the team to the NBA title. Question marks have surrounded the coach in recent weeks as he indicated before the press that he may consider his options after the season.
The Raps finished with a 41-41 record, rallying into playoff contention after a rocky start.
“There’s still a lot of guys that need playoff experience because as you can see, it’s different,” said Nurse of missing the postseason. “It’s physical, it’s pressure, it’s a lot of high stakes I’ve said said that for two years now that we needed playoff games, so it’s it’s disappointing not to get any.”
On an unseasonably warm April evening in Toronto, a modest crowd of Raptors fans filtered into Jurassic Park in Maple Leaf Square Wednesday for the first time in year, site of those memorable oversized outdoor viewing parties during memorable playoff runs in the past. They’d see an intense contest, but leave disappointed.
The Raps had avoided the NBA Play-In before this year, a mini-tournament that sees the seventh through 10th-place finishers from the regular season do battle for the final two playoff spots in each division. A win-or-go-home play-in game is like a Game 7, except you don’t have the benefit of learning about your opponent over six games first.
The Raptors had finished the season ninth, and the Bulls tenth. The teams had met three times in the regular season, with Toronto winning two of those encounters.
DeRozan got a warm, loud welcome from the Toronto faithful in the building where he spent his first nine years in the league after the Raps drafted him ninth overall in 2009.
Anunoby got the assignment to defend him – no surprise after he’d helped the Raps hold DeRozan to an average of 14 points in their other meetings this year – his lowest against any NBA opponent.
VanVleet got the Raptors off to a big start with his 11-point first quarter Wednesday, including a trio of 3-pointers. After the first stanza, the Raps led 28-23.
Siakam was the star of the second quarter, soaring up over defenders and nailing jumpers to help Toronto remain in the lead. With solid defenders like Alex Caruso or Patrick Beverley trying to get in his way, the Raps’ star from Cameroon went off for a 12-point quarter.
VanVleet provided the notable moment of the first half, when he nailed a leaping half-court three-pointer right at the buzzer, to put the Raps up by 11, their biggest lead of the night to that point.
The Raptors piled on early in the third quarter, inflating that lead to 19 points.
That’s when Zach LaVine came alive, erupting for a 17-point third quarter, and helping Chicago chop that robust Toronto lead down to nine points.
Inside the fourth quarter, the Bulls made things even more uncomfortable inside Scotiabank Arena, hacking that lead down to five, then three. DeRozan was rolling too, flashing moves that had made him famous during his years in Toronto. The Raps looked flustered, and created turnovers – 16 on the night, six of them in that fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Bulls surged back to tie it.
Before fans on their feet, the two teams played tug of war with the lead, both teams in the bonus.
The Raps missed a boatload of free throws down the stretch, but the two Siakam missed in the final 12 seconds with a chance to tie may haunt the All-Star this offseason.
“Man. I feel bad for them,” said Nurse.” I think they tried and play really hard.”