The Toronto Raptors won just one game in the month of March, helping a team that was 17-17 and on pace to host a home playoff series at the beginning of the month tumble down to the bottom of the standings, which prompted non-stop trade rumors and focus shifting from the playoffs to the 2021 NBA Draft.
The Raptors already started this season off on a sour note, as the NBA’s lone Canadian franchise is playing games in Florida due to the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially making sure they don’t have any home games all season long.
However, as evidenced when the Raptors took the Golden State Warriors behind the woodshed and beat them 130-77, Toronto still has enough gas left in the tank to play like a champion. Bad luck has ruined this season, but the true degree to which they have been stricken with bad luck is almost laughable.
The Raptors have scored more points than they’ve allowed this year, but they’re in contention for the top pick in the draft. On the flip side of that coin, the Portland Trail Blazers, who traded for Norman Powell as they push towards the postseason, have allowed more points than they’ve scored, but they just won their 30th game.
The 19-30 Raptors have a positive net rating while the 29-19 Blazers have a negative net rating
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) April 3, 2021
The Toronto Raptors are comically unlucky this season
The Raptors have ticked all the boxes that normally constitute an unlucky year. Star players missing time? Check. Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby all struggled with COVID-19.
Blowing leads late in games in an uncharacteristic fashion? Check, several times over. Losing nearly every close game they find themselves in? Check. There are some problems with how this roster is constructed, and Nick Nurse’s haphazard rotations have been called into question in the past, but it’s impossible to deny that this team has angered the basketball gods in some form.
If the rims were a bit less wide, Siakam’s game-winners that rimmed out could’ve given Toronto a handful of extra wins, making them a firm contender for one of the final spots in the play-in tournament. Instead, the Raptors have twisted in the cruel wind this season, watching potential win after potential win come up sour just one year removed from a 53-19 record.
If the Raptors didn’t have bad luck this season, they wouldn’t have any luck at all. The only thing Raptors fans can do is watch the development of their young players, look forward to what could be a very busy offseason, and hope that some twists of fate help them add one or two more unexpected historic blowouts.