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Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon
It was a whirlwind of a back end of the season for the Raptors with 6th place still up for grabs between Toronto, New York and Indiana encapsulated by achieving the goal of heading back to the playoffs. A road that didn't come easy, we had many challenges to overcome throughout this season. How did we get here?
To open the year the first 10 weeks we had the hardest schedule of any team in the league at .550 and were sitting with a record of 18W-22L. We then made a major trade for Julius Randle a deal that was agreed upon in week 8 but had to wait to week 10 for it to be put through. Randle got injured before he even got to suit up for us, this was a hard first 2 weeks as we tried to adjust to a team without a #1 option, Randle eventually suited up for us in week 13 however we had a 3W, 6L fortnight to put us at 21 wins and 28 losses for the year. The Indiana GM throws a jab at the Raptors about "winning the week 10 trade and look at our records since the trade". Randle hadn't even suited up for us yet. Subsequently:
We were starting to fall behind the playoff race and into the lottery odds. However, Randle was able to come back in week 13 and remain in the lineup for 2 weeks due to the NBA All Star break. In that stretch we saw how having our #1 option with the team played out. Going 7 wins and 1 loss. Suddenly we were a scratch under .500 at 28W, 29L.
Week 15, 16 Randle is back out of the lineup and we make a trade for forward Aaron Gordon. Across week 15 and 16 without Randle we go for 5 wins and 3 losses. Suddenly we're scratching at the door of a playoff berth at 33W, 32L in a tight Eastern Conference.
Week 17 arrives with a shock inclusion; Julius Randle is back for a week. However unfortunately we run into the Lakers and a shock loss to another young team in the Clippers derails us with a 2W, 2L week. 35W, 34L. Week 18 we see a less challenging week of opponents and manage a 4W, 0L week. The race for 6th has started to heat up, Indiana's GM has started spiraling in the discord. Record is 39W, 34L.
Week 19 all hope looks lost as Aaron Gordon is ruled out for the week and in our way this week is the 2 teams we are fighting for 6th against, NY and Indiana but we see a glimmer of hope with the inclusion of Brandon Clarke in his first week back since his Achilles rupture. Shout out to BC though with a 15ppg, 9.8rpg, 3apg on 62% and was a key part of shockingly upsetting our direct competitors for the final playoff spot in Indiana and New York with a win over both. 3-2 for the week. 42W, 36L.
Week 20, the final week of the NSL regular season. We have already written ourselves into a play-in game spot. This is the weakest rotation we've had in nearly 10 weeks with 4 G League level players playing big minutes including starting at point guard. 6th place is still in contention between Toronto, Indiana and New York and once again, we face Indiana. Toronto wins the first 2 games of the week against Detroit and Orlando we're at 44W, 36L. Finally on the last day of the week the Indiana vs Toronto matchup happens. Both teams tied in the standings with 44W-36L. As expected, we get blown out as our bench unit makes us drastically uncompetitive and our starters were mobbed by the generational talent that is ROTY front runner Victor Wembanyama.
6th - Indiana 45W, 36L
7th - Toronto 44W, 37
Indiana has begun their celebrations as it seems unlikely Toronto could defeat the 3rd seed Sixers. Enter Amen Thompson and Chet Holmgren, our two rookie sensations are able to both have their way with their matchups for big games and win a huge upset over the Sixers. Toronto are suddenly 0.5 games back for 6th with the Pacers requiring a win in the last game of their regular season over the 1st seed Washington Wizards to secure 6th. The game was full of story, Washington are up 20 with only 4 mins left in the 3rd quarter. Indiana finishes the quarter on a 10-0 run and only 10 behind Washington now. 4th quarter picks up where the 3rd quarter left off, Indiana closes the margin to 4 points and a timeout is whistled as Wizards franchise player LeBron James is injured down the other end. A 4-point game with 8 minutes left and all momentum with Indiana, LeBron is down the door begins to open for Indiana to finish 6th. Devin Booker enters the game from the bench and hits a big 3 to put Washington back up 7. Washington closes the game with a 24 to 15 point run to defeat the Pacers.
6th - Toronto 45W, 37L
7th - Indiana 45, 37L
The season series is tied, neither team won their division, the teams aren't in the same division. A divide, Toronto holds a superior record against their conference. Toronto wins the tie breaker for 6th place. Toronto since being poked by Indiana in week 13 go on to finish the year with a 24 win, 9 loss run to steal 6th place all while only getting 16 games from our #1 option Julius Randle. Never tickle a sleeping dragon.