How far can one reasonably expect the Toronto Raptors to go in the NBA playoffs?

Question

Will they make it past the first round?

Answer 1

2 round they maybe surprise some people and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals but they wont reach the finals. In a couple of years they will be an Eastern power house.

Answer 2

The Raptors have an excellent chance to make it past the first round! They will finish no lower than the fourth seed, with an outside chance at finishing as high as 2nd, so their potential playoff opponents are, in order of likelihood, Washington, New Jersey, Cleveland and Chicago. Looking at each possible opponent closely:

Washington: The Raptors, thanks to that miraculous finish a week ago when Mo Pete took that gift and hit the game tying buzzer beating three, won the season series with Washington 3-1. And now, the Wizards, without their two best players, Arenas and Caron Butler, are a shell of a team. Jamison is the only legit scoring threat left amongst their starters, and Daniels, Hayes and Stevenson are not consistent enough to make up for the loss of Arenas and Butler, who could average a combined 60 pts a game in a playoff series. So the Raps would be big favourites here

New Jersey: Well, wouldn't this be delish for Raps fans - Vince the spoiled Prince coming back to T.O. for a playoff series. The Nets would be a tough matchup, as Kidd is such a smart baller, and Vince is still a potential threat, plus with Jefferson back and Nachbar having some big games, they can score. But, the Raps know better than anyone how to shut down Vince, by bodying him early and keeping him out of the lane, Vince will settle for off balance J's. The Raps would be favoured, and as long as they can play good defence against Kidd and keep athletic guys like Mikki Moore off of the defensive glass, the Raps superior offensive depth should be enough to win a close series.

Cleveland: If the Raps can't hang on to the third seed, then Cleveland is the most likely opponent, as they are pretty inconsistent lately (5-5 in their last 10, compared to 7-3 for Chicago), so even though they have an easier schedule than Chicago, with only one playoff team left to play, I suspect they'll go no better than 3-1, while Chicago can easily sweep it's last 4. The Raps lost the season series 3-1, with the second game in Toronto decided on the last second putback by sideshow Bob (Anderson Varejao), while one of the losses in Cleveland was by only 4 points. The Cavs would likely be favoured, and will probably have home court, as they'll have a better record unless they really stumble down the stretch. This should be a close series, unless LeBron really goes insane and scores 45 a game. The Raps matchup well against the Cavs except against LeBron, and as long as they keep a guy like varejao from picking up every offensive rebound, they could steal one in Cleveland. The Raps big advantage in this series would be their home court strength - they have one of the best records at home in the Conference, and if the fans bring the noise, and the Raps trust themselves, they can defend the home floor and then try to steal one in Cleveland. I'd say their chances in this series would be 50-50, and would depend on their ability to keep everyone but Lebron from contributing. If you saw the last parts of the Cavs game against the Heat, you would have seen how easily the Heat prevented Lebron from making a game-winning play in regulation - all they did was let him dribble to the wing and then trap him, and he ended up throwing it away because the rest of his team assumed he'd get a shot off or drive the lane. This team is offensively challenged after Lebron, especially if they forget about the big man (Ilgauskas), and if Hughes is kept outside the arc, where he's a below average shooter.

Chicago: Probably the toughest first round opponent for the Raps, because of their D, but the Raps tied the season series 2-2 thanks to a big home win last night. The teams are very similar, perimeter shooting, screen-roll, pick-and-roll type teams. The big difference is that Chicago doesn't get much scoring from their post players, but gets lots of rebounding and D. The Raps don't have any position from which they can't score, but rebounding has of course been their big Achilles heel. A series between these two teams would come down to who is moving the best without the ball and hitting open J's, and whether or not the Raps can do a good job team rebounding as they have been lately. If they stay in their offence, moving the ball well, and box out on the defensive glass, they could win this series. I'd say 50-50 here as well, especially given the positive vibes from last night's game.

Bottom line, if the Raps stay in the 3-hole, they should comfortably move on to the second round, where they would likely face the Bulls or Cavs. Again, that would be a possible victory, to get them to the semi's. I think that if the Raps keep believing in themselves, they've got a decent shot at getting to the semis, because the only real experienced teams in the East are the Heat and the Pistons, and if the Raps hang on to the third seed they are unlikely to play either team until the semis

Finally, with the Leafs out of the playoffs, the city will be crazy for the Raps - so the support will be off the hook. Hopefully these young guys can channel that into energy and intensity, and not nerves, and they should be able to ride that into a great playoff run!

Go Raps!

Answer 3

If the Playoffs started today i would expect them to make 2nd round because the wizards are without there top 2 players. however depending on who they play in round 2... they could probably win vs chicago they have done good against them this season but its a young raptors team and they have a few good years ahead of them.

Answer 4

well, it depends on who they are playing. If the playoffs started today they would face the washington wizards. The raptors won the season series 3-1 and gilbert arenas and caron butler are out for the seaon for washinton. So they would at least make it past the first round!!

Answer 5

Honestly it all depends on the match-ups they're given. I really think Toronto has turned it around. But if they face the Pistons or Heat in the 1st round it could spell disaster.

Answer 6

dont think they can win against miami, detroit, cleveland, or chicago in a 7 game series...so they are a very long shot just to go past the second round

Answer 7

interior the jap conf, something can take place.. consistent with probability interior the 1st or 2d around. theres a slender probability that they'd pass to the east finals.. with the pistons cavs warmth and the bulls are the favorites. if the wizards gets an interior scorer they are going to be a contender too

Answer 8

As of now they would play Washington. They can most likely win that series and meet Detroit in the Semifinals. That is where they will most likely drop.

Answer 9

Eastern Confrence semifinals.

Answer 10

that's a good question

i'm a huge Chris Bosh fan...which sucks because i hate rooting for a Canadian team haha (sorry neighbors)

I haven't gotten to see them as much as i'd like to this year for me to make a grand prediction.
-sorry...that's more of a discussion type answer rather than one with an actual yes or no

They should slaughter Washington though....if that's how it ends up playing out