Raptors conclude winningest season in franchise history
The winningest regular season in Toronto Raptors history came to an end Friday afternoon after a 117-109 victory over the Denver Nuggets. It capped off a 53-19 season with a 73.6% win percentage, the highest in franchise history, and clinched the second-best record in the NBA this season.
Imagine hearing that after Kawhi Leonard left to Los Angeles last offseason. Not only did the Raptors survive Leonard's absence, but they flourished while battling injuries to every single one of their regular contributors.
"A lot of people didn’t expect us to have this kind of season," Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said prior to Friday's game. "A lot of guys stepped up. A lot of growth for a lot of players."
Inside the NBA bubble, the Raptors continued to defy expectations. Despite having the hardest seeding schedule of any team, Toronto went 7-1 in Orlando, way overperforming their Vegas 4.5 over/under win total.
Prior to Friday's game Nurse said he was extremely happy with the way the team performed in the bubble.
"I think we wanted to get in shape, get in some rhythm, get our defense playing. I think we've done most of that," Nurse said. "I feel good. I think the guys feel pretty good individually for the most part."
Friday's game was once again another bench heavy game with every Raptors starter aside from Marc Gasol sitting out. Terence Davis II led the way in minutes, despite leaving the game briefly due to a right eye abrasion.
After the game, he said he felt fine, just a little "uglier."
Statistically, he looked particularly strong to start the game, scoring 12 points in the first quarter on 4-for-6 shooting en route to a 14 point performance.
"Once the first went down, I started to realize, I'm a decent shooter," Davis said. "I didn't have that same mojo, man, the same mojo to shoot the ball. During the regular season before COVID, on the court, I probably had no conscience before COVID, and I shoot it with confidence and it goes in. I think I lost that confidence, for a few games, and just recently got it back, so that felt pretty good."
It was the first really impressive game from Davis in Orlando.
"I definitely had some, definitely had some lows, some really really low," Davis said. "Just excited to get to it, man. Playing when it really, really matters."
Maybe the most impressive performance of the last few games came from Paul Watson Jr. The 25-year-old Watson showed up in Florida as a virtual unknown to Nurse, but over the past few games, he showed he has a place on an NBA roster.
"He’s pretty good. He can play," Nurse said. "Talking about comprehending our defensive schemes, he’s done great; really good passer; worked on some of the mechanics of his shooting and he’s just eaten that all up and put in the extra work on that and it showed up here. He vaulted up and made shots. ... He’s gonna be part of our future from what I can see so far."
The Raptors will now have a few days off before they turn their attention toward the Brooklyn Nets when they start the playoffs on Monday at 4 p.m. ET.
