Vaccine guidelines could give Raptors huge advantage in playoffs

The Toronto Raptors continue to pull out some increasingly tough wins as they try to put some distance between themselves and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the play-in tournament. The Raptors have one of the best home-court advantages in the league in Toronto, and that benefit could be amplified in the playoffs.

Since January 15, travelers must be fully vaccinated to enter Toronto. While this hasn’t directly forced any big-name Raptors opponents to sit out games in Canada yet, the potential of a seven-game playoff series could force some who refused to inoculate themselves to miss time.

The most high-profile anti-vax player in the league is Nets star Kyrie Irving, who would not be able to play in Toronto if the Raptors end up in the play-in. Even if they escape that mini bracket, there is some speculation that their first-round opponents might not be at full strength,

According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, the Celtics and 76ers both declined to say if they were fully vaccinated. While this is far from a smoking gun, it leaves open the possibility for either of these teams to miss players for road games in Toronto. The Heat and Bucks both said they were fully vaccinated.

Will vaccine rules stop stars from playing against the Toronto Raptors?

With Toronto describing fully vaccinated as being 14 days past your second shot, players on either team only have a week to make sure they won’t have to miss time. While most of the NBA is fully vaccinated and boosted, some big-name holdouts could still make their presence (or lack of same) felt.

Of the four Celtics players who missed Boston’s loss in Toronto on Tuesday, two of them were confirmed to have been vaccinated in Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams. Jaylen Brown was quoted as saying the vaccine was a personal choice earlier in the year, while Al Horford’s status remains unverified.

The Raptors have proven to be one of the best teams in the league when it comes to taking on some of the elite squads in the game, and their task could get even easier if some of the more impactful teams in the league end up going into the playoffs without their best players.

A Raptors team that is currently playing with no backup point guard and a severe lack of shooting on the bench will take any advantage they can get, especially if the advantage is provided to them by opposing teams making a shortsighted personal choice to refuse inoculation.