Well, that's some shenanigans in Boston. Faux Cs beat the Real Magics (remember when they were good?) and Raptors finish 5th in the East.
Toronto-Cleveland in first round; we won't see schedule for a while but I'm betting Game 1 is Sat. 10 a.m. in Cleveland broadcast on (Sub) Prime is the USA
A 16-win jump, a playoff spot for the first time since 2022, a 46-win season.
Sure, the trip isn't over but the Raptors are certainly on the right trajectory
And we all heard what he said and that was a weak-ass T to begin with
You get T'd up for arguing a wrong call that's overturned should automatically get the T rescinded. Hopefully the NBA gives Mamu his $2K back tomorrow
And Mabrey gets a backcourt partner as Tempo add 2025 all-star and a truly premier defender in free agent Brittney Sykes
Helluva start to the day for Toronto
Tempo make it official: Top expansion draft pick Marina Mabrey signs two-year deal (reports say a $1.19 million first year), she will now forever be known as the first player in team history.
I am one kazillion per cent sure she'll turn out better than Vincenzo did as the first Raptor ever signed.
John works so the rest of us don’t have to
Much appreciated
They playing at Thomas and Mack or the small gym?
Knicks up 15, about 3 minutes left. About time to empty the bench and start thinking about Brooklyn for the Raptors.
A win Sunday guarantees at least sixth and the playoffs; there's a path to get fifth with other results but the Raptors wanted to control their own fate and they will
"That's a great pass by Clarkson," Jack says.
I bet it hasn't been uttered many times before. Ever
Knicks by 15 after three quarters; I'd say it's still somewhat of a game but the Raptors may have to throw a near shutout for 12 minutes because they might be hard-pressed to score 20
Raptors up to 11 turnovers, which isn't good; the Knicks have turned them in to 21 points, which is horrific for the Torontos
Yes, just heard that from a friend in NY as well
Thanks
OG doesn't start the third quarter for the Knicks, no immediate word on what happened with him
It is Toronto's lowest offensive output in a half this season. The previous lowest? 37. Against the Knicks.
Sense a theme?
A brutal first half offensively by the Raptors, who are kicking the ball all over the gym, and they're down 51-36 to the Knicks
Knicks build lead to 16, Raptors look befuddled
8-0 Knicks run in about 90 seconds
It's not like either team's running at full tilt but it's a close one at least
Knicks up 22-21 on Raptors after 1.
Eight for Walter; Towns has 7 for Knicks
Raptors climb part way out of a big early hole. Down 6 at second timeout. Ingram's got 3 assists already, he tied season high with 7 last night
Perhaps Canada's most under-rated hero
First Raptor off the bench is AJ Lawson. Would have got some looooong odds on that being the case in Game 81 when Game 1 arrived
It'll be Shead, Walter, Barnes, Ingram, Poeltl for the Raptors and Brunson, Hart, Our Friend OG, Bridges and Towns for the Knickerbockers
Add RJ Barrett to the out list, he's a late scratch with a sore right knee
The Raptors will be without Immanuel Quickley (foot injury maintenance) and Collin Murray-Boyles (sprained neck) tonight in New York, Trayce Jackson-Davis (ill) is also missing
Many playoff permutations in play but a win solves a lot of them
Last call for submissions to Ye Olde Mailbag so I can knock it off sometime Saturday morning.
Send all the queries to askdoug (at) thestar dot ca and we'll get them taken care of
Raptors waive never-used guard Tyreke Key, clears a roster spot that will allow them to convert a two-way player, the heavy betting is on AJ Lawson, on the weekend so that he is playoff-eligible
And being up 25 with 3:09 is doing the job. It's empty-the-bench time
Raptors up 19 with 6:13 left; BI's got 36 and RJ 22; need 2-3 good more minutes so they can save some for tomorrow in NY
This one's basically over