, ,

Gary Trent Jr returns as Toronto Raptors win the last game of the regular season

Toronto Raptors win last game of regular season as they focus for the play-in tournament

The regular season is officially over and the Toronto Raptors ended up with a record of 41 wins and 41 losses, which puts them at a win percentage of exactly .500.

Short season recap

Coming into this season there were many high expectations of this Raptors team. Some expected Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam to maintain the all-star and all-NBA levels they played at. Some expected leaps from Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr and O.G. Anunoby. Some expected the Raptors to be a top 5 seed.

It is safe to say that things did not go as planned for the Raptors franchise and the fanbase as there were many ups and downs including injuries and underwhelming play. However, the past is the past. Now is the time to leave all the negatives behind and look ahead to the play-in match against the Chicago Bulls at home.

Yesterday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks was a pretty meaningless game seeding-wise as the seedings have already been locked in for the East. Siakam, VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl were resting along with Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and more. Nonetheless, there are positives we can take from the game.

The Return of Gary Trent Jr

Trent Jr returned from injury against the Boston Celtics and in those two games, he went a combined 4-15 shooting and 0-6 from three.

Against the Bucks, Trent Jr dropped 23 points on 7/13 shooting and went 4/7 from three. This is great for Trent’s confidence and we can hope that he will use this as momentum to continue to shoot well against the Bulls.

Notable performances

Precious Achuiwa continued to play well and dropped a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Scottie played a short 21 minutes and dropped a stat line of 8 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists, along with this electric 360 dunk.

Aside from the regulars, there were players at the end of the rotation who got a chance to shine last afternoon. One of them was Malachi Flynn who dropped a season-high of 20 points.

Other notable names are Dalano Banton and Ron Harper Jr. Banton had a well-rounded game with 11 points 5 rebounds and 7 assists while Harper Jr scored 10 points and grabbed 4 boards.

It’s a great reminder to see what the guys at the end of the rotation can provide once they get the minutes. The Raptors ended up winning the game in blowout fashion 121-105 to win the last regular home game of the season.

Next game: The Toronto Raptors will be playing the Chicago Bulls at home for a play-in game on April 12th at 7 pm.