Toronto Raptors feeling good as NBA playoffs come into sight

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Team is in control of its destiny with regular season nearing end and another date with Miami Heat up next.

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Published Apr 08, 2026 • 4 minute read

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Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes (4) dunks against the Miami Heat during Tuesday's game. Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes (4) dunks against the Miami Heat during Tuesday’s game. The Canadian PressArticle content

It might make Allen Iverson happy to know the Toronto Raptors will not be talking about practice again this regular season.

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The Philadelphia 76ers superstar once memorably mused about non-game work in a rant that should stand the test of time. For the Raptors, Wednesday’s practice was the team’s last before either the playoffs or play-in games begin.

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It was a light-hearted affair, screams of cheer could be heard coming from the court on the heels of a solid 121-95 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.

But the work is nowhere close to done. Miami, 0-3 against Toronto this season, gets a final crack Thursday in a rare second straight game here.

“It’s really hard to beat anybody twice in a row,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “So obviously one team is going to feel that they need to react after losing … and they’re gonna come back. And I know that, and expect that, and I don’t expect anything less from teams being coached by (Erik Spoelstra, one of the best in the NBA),” he said.

“So they’re gonna come into their game swinging, but it really comes down to us. It’s, it’s how our reaction to that is going to be, we did not accomplish anything. We just won one game. This new game starts with 0-0 again, and we got to do it again all over. So it’s going to be adjustments on their side.

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“There’s going to be adjustments on our side. So we got to be ready for for tough game, and we got to be the one that’s going to set the tone from the start.”

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The Raptors win, combined with recent losses by Atlanta, Philadelphia and Charlotte, put Toronto in control of its own destiny.

Atlanta plays at Cleveland on Wednesday night and a Hawks loss would move the Raptors into fifth in the Eastern Conference with only three games to play (two more for the Hawks after Wednesday). A Hawks win would put them 1.5 up on Toronto. Toronto owns the tiebreaker should they and the Hawks finish with the same record.

Miami, currently in 10th, can no longer finish in front of the Raptors or Hawks.

Philadelphia and Orlando entered Wednesday tied, but the Sixers own the tiebreaker should those teams finish with identical records. The Magic played at Minnesota on Wednesday though and could move into seventh, just half a game behind the Raptors, with a victory.

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Philadelphia, Miami and Orlando will all be heavy favourites in games on Friday while Toronto (at New York Knicks), Charlotte (hosting Detroit, though the Pistons are locked in to the top seed and might rest players), and Atlanta (hosting Cleveland) will have tougher battles that night.

A Raptors win over the Heat on Thursday would mean 45 victories for just the 12th time in franchise history and, more importantly, would make it a lot tougher for the Magic, Hornets or 76ers to catch them for a playoff spot (only Philadelphia has the tie-breaker over Toronto).

IN CONTROL OF DESTINY

The Raptors sit in a decent spot, knowing wins will negate anything the teams chasing them can do. They control their own destiny to some extent and they admit that’s a positive.

“It feels good. I think everybody since the day we went to Madrid (for an off-season camp) had the same goal — to make the playoffs, to take the step forward and get better as a team,” Sandro Mamukelashvili said.

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“I think we’ve been doing that. We’ve been keeping each other accountable and playing hard. Even though sometimes we have ups and downs, we stay together. We try to figure it out together. Coach is doing a great job coaching us and helping us get over the humps that we have. It’s amazing to be where we’re at because I don’t think anybody saw us being here,” Mamukelashvili, who signed with the Raptors as a free agent, said.

“So, now we’ve just gotta lock in and finish strong. It’s not done until it’s done.”

QUIET QUICKLEY

Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley didn’t want to go into too much depth about how his sore foot was feeling. Quickley returned to action against Miami after missing eight games due to plantar fasciitis, but the team has said the injury won’t simply go away without rest.

The Raptors appreciate that Quickley is willing to play through some pain to help out.

“He gave us huge minutes playing 17 minutes yesterday,” Rajakovic said. “It was a huge, huge help for us, just providing a lot of stability there, providing a shooting threat.

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“I thought that he did good job defensively. He was moving really well, as those kind of injuries, they’re nagging, and they just like day-to-day,” the coach added.

“He was able to get on the court today get some work done. So we’ll see tomorrow where he’s at and how that affects the game.”

Raptors start fast and never let up in easily beating the visiting Miami Heat

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Quickley, who was not on the injury report for Thursday’s game, was happy to be back, but said he didn’t want to talk about his foot. He’s also glad Toronto’s in the mix for the post-season, a first for his time with the team after being traded from New York.

“It’s definitely good to be playing winning basketball just to have a chance to compete. Something, that you work all season for you, work all summer for getting up early, staying late,” Quickley said.

“It’s definitely something that you appreciate when you’re here.”

He cautioned they haven’t clinched anything yet, as did Mamukelashvili.

But it’s getting closer.

@WolstatSun

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Toronto Raptors feeling good as NBA playoffs come into sight

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