Toronto Raptors:
The toughest strength of the seeding game schedule belonged to the Toronto Raptors who went 7-1 in spite of it. In comparison to the Pelicans who faced opponents with a win total of 254, the Raptors suited up against teams with a cumulative 330 win total.
They played teams with the first, third, and fourth-ranked defenses (they are number two) as well as the fifth-ranked defense post All-Star break and in the bubble.
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The offensive rank is a bit deceiving as they had one bad outing where they only scored 100 points and otherwise produced an offense that would rank seventh in the association.
Yet the Raptors land in the top spot for the best bubble defense that only rose above 100 because they used their end of bench players in the final two games.
Oh, and remember when we picked Chris Boucher in the 2017 redraft as a player the Thunder should’ve drafted? Toronto played him over 20 minutes in each of the last three games and the results speak for themselves:
- Bucks: 25 points, 11 rebounds, two each of assists, steals, and blocks, 3 of 7 from deep
- 76ers: 19 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, 4 of 6 from deep
- Nuggets: nine points, nine rebounds
*He’ll be a free agent this offseason – and again the Thunder needs to target him.
Of the teams who had the five hardest strength of schedules, the Raptors and Blazers had winning records while three finished with records of 3-5 (Lakers, Heat, and Nuggets). Notably, the Raptors beat all three of those squads and faced the full Lakers and Heat core units. In addition, Toronto made up so much ground they moved past the Lakers for the second-best NBA record.
Seeding Game Results:
Raptors 107 – Lakers 92
Raptors 107 – Heat 103
Raptors 109 – Magic 99
Celtics 122 – Raptors 100
Raptors 108 – Grizzlies 99
Raptors 114 – Bucks 106
Raptors 125 – 76ers 121
Raptors 117 – Nuggets 109
To reiterate, these power rankings are only a reflection of the eight seeding games and aren’t necessarily indicative of where the clubs will rank as the playoffs begin. We’ll have that list on Monday or Tuesday with some significant differences from this list.
Next up 16 teams will begin their postseason on Monday and Tuesday with the OKC Thunder suiting up to battle the Rockets starting on Tuesday.