It’s been a good week so far for the Toronto Raptors. After shutting down the Detroit Pistons on the road last Friday, the Raptors returned home and took care of business against the Indiana Pacers.
Those two wins, both against East playoff teams, help to keep the Raptors from looking behind them in the standings as they continue their pursuit for the conference’s third seed and the ability to both nab home court advantage in the post-season and avoid a potential matchup with the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers until the conference finals, something the East’s fourth-seed, where the Raps currently sit, can’t claim.
But it’s what the teams above them in the standings— Boston and Washington, currently second and third, respectively— are doing (or not doing) that have the Raptors sitting pretty as the NBA’s stretch run continues, just one game back of third with 12 regular season games remaining.
After a crucial matchup between the Celtics and Wizards on Monday night, let’s take a look at the weekly snapshot for each team gunning for a top-3 seed:
BOSTON CELTICS
In the best case scenario for Raptors fans, Boston beat Washington 110-102 on Monday, creating a two and a half game gap between the Celtics and Wizards in the standings.
The Celts are also now just two games back of Cleveland for first place in the conference, and while they are more than likely to wind up this season in the two-spot, they’re also separating from the pack when it comes to that coveted third seed, making it a two-horse race now between the Wiz and Raps.
Boston has a relatively easy go of things over the next stretch of games, with tough matchups against the red-hot Heat and Bucks watered down by games vs. the Suns, Magic, and Knicks.
[relatedlinks]
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
The Wizards appear to be falling back to Earth after a dominant stretch of basketball dating back to December. Washington has now dropped two straight, as John Wall failed to reach double-digit assists in both contests.
With games this week and next against the Hawks, Nets, and Lakers (with a contest vs. Cleveland thrown in to balance things out a bit), the Wizards should have a good opportunity to string some wins together and get back on track. But looking past that, Washington’s schedule down the stretch gets quite difficult, punctuated by matchups with the Warriors, Jazz and the Heat— twice— on their road to the post-season.
TORONTO RAPTORS
The Raptors have been playing solid ball as of late, despite the absence of Kyle Lowry. On the defensive end, especially, the Raps have excelled, posting the third-best defensive rating in the NBA since acquiring Serge Ibaka and inserting him into the starting lineup. They’re also getting defensive contributions from deadline acquisition P.J. Tucker, while DeMar DeRozan keeps rolling and is even getting a little more scoring support. It’s enough to keep the team well above water as they await Lowry’s return.
The timing of tonight’s game vs. the Chicago Bulls, however, is less than ideal. The Raptors are mired in an 11-game losing streak vs. the Bulls, yet can tie Washington with a win tonight. After winning the season series 2-1, the Raptors own the tie-break advantage over the Wizards, which could ultimately play a pivotal role in determining who winds up no.3 when all is said and done.
After Chicago, the Raptors return to Miami where they had a putrid outing vs. the Heat (who have been the East’s best since the all-star break) a couple of weeks back, but have a favourable schedule the rest of the way, with games against non-playoff teams like the Mavericks, Magic, Hornets, 76ers and Knicks sandwiched between two games against the Pacers and one apiece vs. the Pistons, Heat and Cavaliers. Strap in. This should be fun.
