The Toronto Raptors have been eliminated from postseason contention.
Toronto lost to the New York Knicks 145-101 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-106 to officially eliminate the Raptors.
The Raptors will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
It has been a roller coaster of a year for the Raptors. The franchise finally decided to rebuild and went through major changes to its roster.
Then as the new-look Raptors were starting to build some momentum coming out of the All-Star break, injuries derailed this team.
Scottie Barnes suffered a broken hand on March 1 and required surgery that will likely keep him out until the end of the season. Jakob Poeltl suffered a pinky finger injury and required surgery as well. Then Chris Boucher suffered a torn MCL and D.J. Carton has been out with an ankle injury.
RJ Barrett, who tragically lost his younger brother Nathan, and Immanuel Quickley have missed time for personal reasons and Jontay Porter is out as he is currently under a gambling investigation. Ochai Agbaji has also just been added to the list of injuries following a right hip contusion he suffered against the Knicks.
As a result of all of this, the Raptors season has crumbled. The team is currently on a 12-game losing streak and they could very well surpass their franchise-worst 17-game losing streak.
The focus for the Raptors now has shifted to trying to hold onto the sixth-worst record in the league, which would give them about a 46% percent chance of keeping their 2024 first-round pick.
The 2024 NBA Draft will be important for this franchise as they continue this rebuild.
Silver lining for the Raptors
Although this Raptors season has been disappointing from a win/loss perspective, at least the Raptors now have a direction and an identity to build on.
With a good draft, strong offseason and continued player development, the Raptors could be right back in the mix next season.
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