NBA West and East Rookies of Month for April: Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Raptors guard Malachi Flynn.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 4, 2021
Toronto Raptors’ season on life support as they prepare to face Washington Wizards – TSN.ca
The situation hasn’t changed much. With six games remaining, the odds are against the Raptors earning a spot in the play-in tournament, which could have given them an opportunity to extend their season. In all likelihood, they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Still, they’re not hanging their heads or feeling sorry for themselves. Instead, they’re doing their best to find joy in the process.
“Coach has been preaching every day just try to find some type of excellence, that’s been his theme the last couple weeks,” Kyle Lowry said over the weekend. “Every single day try to find some type of excellence.
“This game is a game of joy and fun, and when you’re having fun [good] things happen.”
It showed on their recent west coast road swing. There were plenty of positives to take from the trip. In the games they played, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet looked like stars. An all-time performance from Lowry helped spark an unlikely win over LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers.
Meanwhile, the young guys continued to make strides, including Malachi Flynn, who was named Eastern Conference rookie of the month for April.
They went toe to toe with four Western Conference contenders in the span of six days, despite missing key players in each contest. A 1-3 record doesn’t do them justice, but that’s how the year has gone.
“We’re the best worst team of all time,” VanVleet joked after Toronto fell to 27-39 on the campaign with a 105-100 loss to the Clippers.
Now, with their season on life support, they’ll return to Tampa and host the Washington Wizards on Thursday, a game that could end up being the source of renewed hope or the coup de grâce.
“That’s probably our last chance saloon,” said Nurse, using a British phrase he would have picked up during his time coaching in England. “I think them getting that one against us would be awful tough for us to recover from. [If] we get it, it puts us in there legitimately.”
Depending on the result of the Wizards’ game in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Washington will either hold a three- or four-game lead on Toronto for 10th place and the final spot in the East’s play-in tournament going into Thursday’s meeting.
Lose and they would be all but officially eliminated. A win would keep them alive for another day, but they’d still have work to do and need some help along the way.
Toronto Temperature: After another down week, the Toronto Raptors are on the brink – Raptors HQ
Khem Birch, Continued Inspiring Play
It might be belabouring the point at this juncture, but after playing the entirety of the season in the desert of Aron Baynes, Khem Birch’s mere existence as an NBA centre who can catch, shoot and pass the ball at an above-average clip for a man in the middle has been a living-oasis for Raptors fans. Birch once again set his career-high in points this week and though the Raptors are losing games at roughly the same rate as the Orlando Magic (ugh), it must feel nice for Birch to at least be playing impactful minutes on the court.
The Wizards have been the hottest team in the NBA of late.
They went 13-4 through the end of April and the beginning of May, and have climbed into one of two spots in the new play-in portion of the NBA playoffs.
Bradley Beal is second in the league in scoring, Russell Westbrook had a triple double this week that included 21 rebounds and 24 assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to have multiple 20-20-20 triple doubles in his career.
“They’re playing at a really high level, and they’ve made a push to get themselves into the play-in situation,” VanVleet said. “With the standings and all that, I think it’s a game that we need to try and go get.”
In the search for optimism about the Raptors chances, it comes from the fact they’re playing as well now as they have in weeks and could have close to a full roster available for Thursday.
And while a 6-5 record in their last 11 games is hardly overwhelming, they have played well enough and been in almost every game.
A Tuesday night loss to the Clippers was the third in four tough games against Denver, Utah and the two Los Angeles teams. In the zero sum world of pro sports, that’s not good enough.
“We need to get some more wins out of this situation, but we’re playing damn good basketball,” VanVleet said. “Just not good enough to beat some of these teams right now.
Steady Freddie VanVleet evolves into Raptors’ sage soul | Toronto Sun
But once this awkward season is officially in the books and the Raps get down to business, the bottom line will dictate a change for Lowry, allowing VanVleet to assume the leadership mantle.
The veteran point guard brings the same physical and mental toughness that Lowry does, minus the petulance and proclivity to argue every call that doesn’t go his way.
The Raptors’ season is on life support following a 1-3 road trip when the club, once again hurting, was good enough to be in games, but not good enough when games needed to be won.
The issue is obvious — a lack of depth scoring and a legitimate closer.
Pascal Siakam hasn’t shown he’s worthy of being that closer, despite the numbers he’ll post.Somehow, some way, a player who is Siakam’s superior must be acquired, which won’t be easy.
“We need to get some more wins out of this situation,” said VanVleet following another lost opportunity in L.A. against the Clippers on Tuesday, 105-100.
“We’re playing damn good basketball, just not enough to beat some of these teams.”
The Raptors will play host to Washington on Thursday night. The Wizards will be playing the back end of a back-to-back.
A win by Washington and the nail in Toronto’s playoff aspiration gets deeper.
“We’re the best worst team of all-time,” quipped VanVleet. “It was a joke so let’s not run with that one … I’m sure you guys (media) will make a meme or that quote will be on someone’s Instagram page or some sh– like that.”
