There is something ironic about the anxiety levels that shoot up within Raptor fans when looking at the Eastern Conference standings. The team is flying, on course to break their regular season record, fiddling with the real possibility of overcoming LeBron’s Cavaliers as the East’s top-dog – all this while potentially welcoming back their best wing defender just in time for the first round of this season’s playoffs.
But towards the Conference’s deep-end of the playoff bracket lurks an evil nemesis who, no matter the circumstances, manages to scare the bejeebers out of even the most optimistic of Raptor fans. The Bulls are a wild animal, to be sure. They have dwindled in the East due to injuries, but have floated enough through their tough stretch without Jimmy Butler to stay in the playoff picture, and now with Butler back, could prove to be a nightmare matchup for any first round opponent.
Again, to reiterate, the Bulls are evil. Fans on Twitter might tell you that getting swept by a team in the regular season means nothing, indelicately pointing to the Wizards’ undressing of the Raptors last season after getting punched wholeheartedly by them from October through to April. But Chicago’s evil is some kind of different darkness all together. Their win streak against Toronto goes back to the 2013-2014 season – 9 games. Even when they’re depleted, they find their inner Raptor kryptonite and get unnatural performances in the form of a Doug Mcdermott demon.
Or as Dwane Casey explains it:
“Every time we’ve played them someone’s come in and had an out-of-body experience.”
Those demons, in conjunction with the experience and tenacity the Bulls have in the post-season with players like Gasol, Rose, and Butler – along with their stretch bigs which the Raptors always have a hard time dealing with – makes them an unconventional 7th-8th seed.
How is any of this relevant now, you may ask – nine days after the Raptors played the Bulls last? Admittedly it may not be, and a quick shakeup in the East in the coming weeks could make this discussion irrelevant. For now though, the Bulls are just one game back of the Indiana Pacers for the 7th seed, and they will use their remaining 12 games to climb up the ladder as much as possible – though catapulting themselves up to sixth and avoiding a rendezvous with either the Raptors or Cavs is still improbable. What makes this entire discussion relevant enough is that, after reading the reality of the East, the most likely scenario in the first round will see some sort of combination of Raptors / Cavaliers vs Pacers / Bulls – with two possible outcomes. The flipside to this story is to talk about the equally plausible first round date with the Pacers – but that’s not nearly as interesting.
Here’s a quick look at the remaining schedule for all four teams, and a prediction of how it might pan out.
I’ve turned this piece upside down and on its head with those predictions – predictions which subdue the fear of a first-round matchup with the Bulls. In this scenario – which reads the reality of the varying degree of difficulties in the four schedules, and factors in the odd trap game loss – the Raptors would likely face the Pacers, assuming the rest of the East doesn’t alter drastically from here on in.
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I’ve been slapped with various deadlines, so this is about all I have time for this week, but as tradition holds, here’s an eye on the Raptors’ draft pick, courtesy of Tankathon.
