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Playoff Picture: Toronto Raptors

By Luke Duffy

Mar 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry (7) reacts against the Portland Trail Blazers at Air Canada Canada Centre. The Trail Blazers beat the Raptors 113-97. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry (7) reacts against the Portland Trail Blazers at Air Canada Canada Centre. The Trail Blazers beat the Raptors 113-97. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) holds the ball on his head after being called for a foul against Boston Celtics by referee Tom Washington (49) in the second quarter at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) holds the ball on his head after being called for a foul against Boston Celtics by referee Tom Washington (49) in the second quarter at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Why They’ll Fall Short

Defensively, this team is horrible. They rank 25th in the league, and the five teams below them in this category are all lottery bound. So having statistically the worst defense in the playoffs is another way of saying this team could be going home earlier than they would like. As stated, Lowry can get beaten by his man with sheer pace alone.

DeRozan isn’t much of a defender either, nor does he seem to mind this fact. Valanciunas is even less so a defensive force, and improvement on that end from his still looks a pipe dream. When your best players and leading lights are a non-factor on that end, it rubs off on the rest of the team. Defense wins championships, but this defense will struggle to even win a postseason game if it remains this bad.

Offensively they rank in the bottom third in the league in team assists per game as well (16.3). I’m not going to read as much into this as we maybe should, Lowry has had to take over games sometimes to keep his team in contests. This will lead to selfish possessions. But it is still not good enough for a team who would have started the year thinking the conference finals were a possibility. Not anymore.

Next: Hard Workers Needed For This Team

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