At least there is only two games to go.
The Toronto Raptors had their chance to put the Chicago Bulls out of their misery at the ACC on Sunday night but apparently most of them decided it would be just too much effort.
Well not everyone thought it was too much effort.
Hedo Turkoglu had his best game as a Raptor by far.
No Turkoglu didn’t lead the team in scoring and he was just 2-12 from the floor. But Turkoglu played all-out and with reckless abandon. He drove for balls on the floor and fought for position. The Raptors big free agent left it All-On-The-Floor in this game.
And it showed on the stats sheet. Turkoglu had 19 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals. That’s both a career high and a team season high in boards.
Jarrett Jack played hard in the first half but unfortunately in the second half he let a bad situation get the better of him.
Both Weems and Bargnani put up decent points in the first half and ended up at 18 points and 5 rebounds for the game. But both were ineffective guarding their respective positions.
And without Chris Bosh and Antoine Wright available, depth for this Raptors team is a major issue.
Chicago earned the win and the team was led by their young star, Derrick Rose. Chicago may still miss out on the playoffs this season, but at this point, they are the more deserving team.
The Toronto Raptors are no longer in control of their own playoff destiny.
The Raptors must beat the slumping Detroit Pistons and hope the resurgent Milwaukee Bucks can defeat Atlanta.
If Atlanta wins, the Celtics are destined to finish in fourth whether they beat the Bulls on Tuesday or not. The Bulls may benefit from yet another elite team tossing them a softball because they just don’t care if they win or lose.
(Edit – Celtics can still get third if they beat both the Bulls then the Bucks and the Hawks lose to the Cavaliers in Cleveland.)
The only good news is the Bulls may still be playing a Charlotte team on Wednesday that does have something to play for besides pride. And in Charlotte, the Bobcats are very tough.
(Update – Charlotte look to be locked into seventh.)
With only two games remaining in the regular season, the Raptors are still, one way or another, likely to be playing for a playoff spot against the Knicks on Wednesday night.
Even though a loss to Detroit does not eliminate the Raptors, and the Bulls are a highly suspect squad themselves, the Toronto Raptors had better put together two wins to close out this season to give themselves a shot.
Failure to do at least that much will severely dampen the already crushed spirits of those Raptors fans now debating whether or not to re-invest in season’s tickets for next year.
