Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports I was called a fool. Told I don’t know ball. Laughed at. WHO IS LAUGHING NOW? Not me, because I am crying. On Tuesday night, Pascal Siakam scored 37 points for the Indiana Pacers to push them to a game two road victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. It was awesome, and it also sucked real hard. Pascal Siakam is the first NBA player to open the playoffs with back-to-back 35-point + 10-rebound games since Wilt Chamberlain in 1967. He dropped a playoff career-high 37 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists to lead us to the Game 2 win. pic.twitter.com/zW80rHencs — India ..read more

Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images What did coach Darko Rajakovic and President Masai Ujiri say during their respective media availability that could indicate the direction of the team’s roster construction? Coach Darko Rajakovic and President Masai Ujiri talked a lot during their respective end-of-season media availability, and they should, as they had a lot of questions to answer. In this corner of the internet, we care more about what these guys said regarding the draft. Hopefully, we can pick up some clues about the team’s strategy going into the draft season. Rajakovic did not go into dept ..read more

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports Garrett Temple’s impact cannot be measured in stats, but his handprint on the Raptors will be evident for years to come. Imagine taking a charge at 37 years old. Two players immediately come to mind — Kyle Lowry of course, but also Garrett Temple. Both Toronto Raptors legends in their own right, both still hooping in their own ways in their late thirties. Garrett Temple did not play a whole lot through the 2023-24 season, but he was always ready. He showed up to every game looking fresh in a custom suit, and when his number was called he put everything on the floor ..read more

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports In his first year as head coach, Darko Rajaković kept the rocky ship afloat — but the real test begins next season. It’s officially been (about) one year of the Darko Rajaković experience. After parting ways with Nick Nurse after the 2022-23 NBA season, the Toronto Raptors went on an extensive hunt for their next head coach. While many of the usual names came up in the search, it was Darko Rajaković — at that time an assistant in Memphis — who rose above. Masai Ujiri, Raptors President, was incredibly excited about Rajaković as a coach, because of his passio ..read more

Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images A miserable season could not guarantee the Raptors a lottery pick, and draft pundits call this draft weak. But have you seen the Raptors’ roster? With the Toronto Raptors’ 2023-24 season over, we now focus on the draft coming up in June. The disastrous season left many questions regarding the Raptors, such as whether the front office is sleeping on the wheel or whether coach Darko Rajakovic was a terrible hire. Still, one thing’s clear after watching this team the entire season: this team needs to upgrade the roster’s talent level. With at least two—perhaps thre ..read more

Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK Six Raptors spoke to the media today to reflect on the 2023-24 NBA season, and what’s next for the team. With the regular season behind us, and the Toronto Raptors not making the playoffs or the play-in tournament, the team is holding end of season team availability this week. The players were first up on Monday, with the team’s core members coming to speak to the media. The players reflected on the season they had personally, the struggles the team went through as a whole, their plans for the summer and more. We’ll go through each player’s availa ..read more

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports And with that, one of the toughest recent seasons is over With so much on the line for so many NBA teams today, this has probably been one of the most high-energy, playoff-like environments for a final game day of the season in recent memory. The seeding is usually straightforward, and a few games matter, but it’s usually a good opportunity for rest, or trying a couple of things to prepare for the playoffs. Not the case this year, with only 5 teams having their seeding set in the playoffs before tipoff today. Miami was one of the teams still looking to determine the ..read more

Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images 1-2-3, Cancun! Well, this is it for the Raptors fanbase for this season. Game 82 — the final game for teams that won’t be moving on to get some postseason action. For coach Darko Rajakovic, the rest of the coaching staff, and the players expected to dress up today, it’s one more game to show the fanbase and, perhaps, the rest of the NBA that they have more to show. Or they can go through the motions, get this game over with, and call it a season. Expect the Miami Heat to field their key players for this game. They are embroiled in the thick of Play-In positio ..read more

Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images The game really felt like one more game before the team goes “1-2-3, Cancun!” It was an 8 PM start time for the Heat fans, and at first, the arena looked like the Heat fans’ trademark indifference towards the first quarter of Miami Heat basketball games. However, with the team playing game 81 against the lowly Toronto Raptors, it became apparent quickly that the arena wouldn’t sell out for tonight’s game. Can’t blame them; tonight’s game is a “scheduled win” for the Heat, and they did just enough to do their part, vaporizing the Raptors, 125-103 ..read more

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Tonight is the first of back to back games in Miami to end the season. We are reaching the end of what can only be described as a wild Toronto Raptors season, and the last stop? Miami. The Raptors are finishing out their season with two games against the Heat, both in Miami. Tonight’s penultimate match means a lot more to the Raptors than it does to the Heat, but not for the reasons you may be thinking. It’s actually better for Toronto to LOSE tonight — drafts odds wise, that is. If Toronto loses tonight, they will lock in the 6th best odds in the NBA draft ..read more