NBA PM: Raptors Hope to be at Full Strength for Playoffs

Raptors Looking Get to Full Strength Before Playoffs

The Toronto Raptors have spent the last several weeks playing without some key contributors. With just two games remaining in the regular season, they’re closer to being back at full strength with the playoffs starting this weekend.

Like most teams, the Raptors have gone through their fair share of injuries. DeMar DeRozan has missed 21 games, All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry has missed eight games, Amir Johnson has missed seven games and Tyler Hansbrough has missed five games this season for Toronto. Perhaps none of those injuries occurred at a worse time than the injuries to Lowry and Johnson.

Lowry had missed the previous three weeks of action due to back spasms before returning to the lineup on Friday against the Orlando Magic, and Johnson has been out since April 4 with a sprained right ankle. Lowry returned against the Magic with no setbacks and he played 36 minutes the following night in Miami. Lowry will use the remaining games in the regular season to find his rhythm again and work on his conditioning. Meanwhile, Johnson is said to be close to returning, but the 6’9 power forward doesn’t want to rush back into the lineup. However, Johnson did tell reporters on Monday that if the playoffs started now, he’d likely be playing.

Teams poised to make the postseason often use the last few weeks of the season to begin preparing for potential matchups and making sure they’re playing as well as they can (while also providing some rest for key players, if possible). Injuries have made that tough for Toronto. Lowry and Johnson combine to make up a big part of the team’s offense, as Lowry averages 17.7 points per game while Johnson averages 9.4 points per game. With so little time remaining until the playoffs start, it’s crucial that the team gets these two players back up to speed as quickly as possible.

“We don’t want to disrupt what rhythm we do have; that’s the hardest thing to do,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey told reporters. “We went through it with DeMar coming back. You kind of get into a rhythm with guys playing and now we got to get one of our other top players back in the fold and now the guys’ minutes have changed and their roles have changed a little bit so now you’re discombobulated again. We’ve got to be careful with that but we have to get [Kyle] and Amir back in as quickly as we can to kind of get a semi-rhythm going into the playoffs.”

The past couple of months have been a struggle for the Raptors. In addition to losing Lowry and Johnson to injuries over the past couple of weeks, the team suffered through a brutal stretch of games during parts of February and March. From Feb. 21 to March 10, the team earned just one victory in a stretch of 10 games, which was the worst win percentage in the league during that time frame. Prior to those 10 games, the Raptors were in second place in the Eastern Conference but fell down to fourth place after suffering through the slump. Since that rough patch, the team has turned things around and have gone 10-6 to lock down home-court advantage in the first round.

“The last two weeks we’ve been doing so much better,” point guard Greivis Vasquez told reporters. “We won three games in a row and then lost two, but I feel like we’ve gotten better defensively. I think we’re headed in the right direction. People talk about perimeter defense and rebounding and this and that, [but] we’re doing the right things to be where we’re at right now.

“We have [48 wins right now], but we’re headed to the playoffs and we just can’t lose sight of that. We just have to stay the course and understand that anything can happen in the playoffs so we have to finish the season strong.”

Despite a losing record in each of the previous two months, the team is having one of the best seasons in franchise history. A win in either of the final two games would give this Raptors squad the most wins in team history. At 48-32, they have already tied the franchise mark for most wins in a season, which was set by last year’s squad. With remaining games against the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets, the team could hit that win total.

“We set a goal at the beginning of the season to be a 50-plus win team and we have an opportunity to do that so we control our own fate,” guard Lou Williams said. “We’ve set goals and we’ve accomplished a few of them so far. We got some rust to work off [but] once we get everybody back in the fold, we should be good.”

The playoff race is still too close to identify a first-round playoff opponent for the Raptors, but as it stands the two possibilities work to their favor. Currently the Raptors are in fourth place – just a half-game behind the Chicago Bulls for the third seed – and would face the Washington Wizards in the first round. The Raptors swept the season series with the Wizards, 3-0. If the team can win their last two games, they’d take the third seed from Chicago and would be matched up against the Milwaukee Bucks, a team they went 2-1 against this season. Also playing into their favor is the fact that they have home-court advantage in the opening round. They are 26-14 at home this year versus 22-18 on the road.

“I think it’s definitely important [to have home-court advantage] because we know what to expect from our fans,” DeRozan told reporters. “What we had last year was definitely big and I think that plays a big part for us emotionally as well. To get out there in front of our fans to get started and to have that sixth man behind us is definitely big.”

Even though Toronto could enter the playoffs as high as the three seed, the Raptors won’t be favored to win it all; the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers are considered the favorites in the Eastern Conference. But being an underdog could work to the Raptors’ advantage as they won’t be under as much pressure to win as the Hawks and Cavaliers, who are each entering the playoffs with high expectations placed on them.

HEAT Remain Alive in Playoff Race

The Miami HEAT remain alive in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference following Monday night’s 100-93 win over the Orlando Magic and the Chicago Bulls’ 113-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Heading into Tuesday’s slate of games, the HEAT are currently in the 10th place in the standings, trailing the Indiana Pacers at number eight and the Brooklyn Nets at number nine. They remain a game and a half away from the Pacers and a full game behind the Nets.

In order to secure the eighth and final playoff spot, the HEAT must have several things go their way over the final two days of the regular season:

• The Pacers must lose at home tonight versus the Washington Wizards and tomorrow night on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies.
• The Magic must beat the Nets on Wednesday night in Brooklyn.
• The HEAT must beat the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Wednesday night.

“So, you’re saying there’s a chance?” HEAT head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the win, citing a popular movie quote from Dumb and Dumber. “I don’t know what the percentage [of making the playoffs] is now, but at least it’s gone up a couple of ticks.”

Despite the long odds of making it into the postseason for the seventh-consecutive season, the players haven’t forgotten the up-and-down season they’ve gone through.

“Guys have come together,” Dwyane Wade told reporters. “[We’ve] tried to accomplish a goal and whether we make that goal or fall short from the goal, it takes nothing away from each individual here and what they’ve come together to do. With all of the haymakers we’ve [had] thrown at us, we’ve staggered but we haven’t totally fell out yet. We ain’t at the 10 count; we’re at like 9.9, but we ain’t at the 10 count. That’s the mentality guys have been having all year.”