Toronto, April 10 (IANS) The Toronto Raptors closed out their 28th NBA regular season with a 121-105 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Raptors finished the season with a 41-41 record for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. This is the ninth time the team has beaten the 40-win mark in their last ten seasons, reports Xinhua.
Toronto also wrapped up the season with a 27-14 record at home, including winning 11 of their last 12 games at Scotiabank Arena.
During the win, the Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. returned to form with a game-high 23 points, including four 3-pointers in just 27 minutes of action. This was his third game since a seven-game absence due to elbow and back injuries.
Teammate Malachi Flynn had a season-high 20 points, while big man Precious Achiuwa recorded 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season.
“Gary came out ready to go and got a bunch of good looks, Precious with his rebounds, played with good energy as well,” said the Raptors head coach Nick Nurse following the game. “Malachi was very good, really solid and fast out there. I thought he pushed the tempo out there.”
Nurse’s team ended the season with the most steals in the league with 772, a franchise record.
A part of this was forward O.G. Anunoby, who led the league with 1.91 steals per game. He became the second player in team history to lead in one of the five major categories, joining Marcus Camby, who led the league in blocks in the 1997-98 season.
“He’s really guarded literally every position and had some nights where he’s given some really, really good players a tough time. I hope he gets recognized for that,” Nurse praised his sixth-year veteran. “I can’t see who else does what he does defensively in the league.”
With the regular season over, the Raptors will enter the play-in tournament for the first time in franchise history. On Wednesday, Toronto will host No. 10 Chicago Bulls in a single-elimination game. The winner will face the loser of Tuesday’s match between No. 7 Miami Heat and No. 8 Atlanta Hawks to determine who faces the No. 1 ranked Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
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