March was not a month to remember for the Toronto Raptors.
In going 1-13 (.071) over their 14 games, the Raptors posted the third-lowest winning percentage in a full calendar month in franchise history.
The only two months in which Toronto has posted a lower winning percentage: November of 1997 when it went 1-14 (.067) and November of 2005 when it went 1-15 (.063).
Lowest win percentage in a full calendar month: Raptors history
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 1, 2021
November 2005 .063
November 1997 .067
March 2021 .071
April 1998 .091
The Raptors now sit at 18-30 on the season with 24 games remaining before the playoffs.
With that in mind, here's a snapshot of where the Raptors stand heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
MORE: Gary Trent Jr.'s career night not enough against Thunder
Current standings
The Raptors are currently in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.
Despite losing 13 of their last 14 games, the Raptors are only two games behind the Chicago Bulls for 10th place and four games behind the Indiana Pacers in 9th place.
| Rank | Team | Wins | Losses | Win Percentage | Games Behind | Games Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Indiana Pacers | 21 | 25 | 0.457 | -- | 26 |
| 10 | Chicago Bulls | 19 | 27 | 0.413 | 2 | 26 |
| 11 | Toronto Raptors | 18 | 30 | 0.375 | 4 | 24 |
| 12 | Washington Wizards | 17 | 29 | 0.370 | 4 | 26 |
| 13 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 17 | 30 | 0.362 | 4.5 | 25 |
There will be a play-in tournament at the season's end for the season consecutive season, although this season's play-in tournament is slightly different from last season's. Whereas only the No. 8 seed was up for grabs last season, both the No. 7 and No. 8 seed are up for grabs this season.
As NBA.com's Yash Matange explained...
First, the seventh and eighth-seeded teams will face-off, and the winner of that "Seven-Eight Game" will be the seventh seed in their respective conference.
Following that, the ninth and tenth-seeded teams will play each other in a "Nine-Ten Game." The loser of that gets eliminated while the winner progresses to face-off against the loser of the "Seven-Eight Game" Play-In Game.
The winner of that "Play-In Game" will be the eighth seed in their respective conference.
The Raptors have made the playoffs in each of the last seven seasons, tying them with the Portland Trail Blazers for the second-longest active streak in the NBA.
Strength of schedule
According to Tankathon, the Raptors have the sixth-hardest remaining schedule in the league, with their opponents owning a combined winning percentage of .517.
The Raptors still have two matchups remaining against the Los Angeles Lakers, two against the Brooklyn Nets, two against the LA Clippers, one against the Utah Jazz and one against the Denver Nuggets.
| Date | Opponent | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, April 2 | vs. Golden State | 7:00 PM |
| Mon, April 5 | vs. Washington | 7:00 PM |
| Tue, April 6 | vs. Los Angeles | 7:30 PM |
| Thu, April 8 | vs. Chicago | 7:30 PM |
| Sat, April 10 | at Cleveland | 7:30 PM |
| Sun, April 11 | at New York | 8:00 PM |
| Tue, April 13 | vs. Atlanta | 7:30 PM |
| Wed, April 14 | vs. San Antonio | 7:30 PM |
| Fri, April 16 | vs. Orlando | 7:30 PM |
| Sun, April 18 | vs. Oklahoma City | 7:00 PM |
| Wed, April 21 | vs. Brooklyn | 7:00 PM |
| Sat, April 24 | at New York | 1:00 PM |
| Mon, April 26 | vs. Cleveland | 7:30 PM |
| Tue, April 27 | vs. Brooklyn | 7:30 PM |
| Thu, April 29 | at Denver | 9:00 PM |
| Sat, May 1 | at Utah | 10:00 PM |
| Sun, May 2 | at Los Angeles | 10:00 PM |
| Tue, May 4 | at LA | 10:00 PM |
| Thu, May 6 | vs. Washington | 7:30 PM |
| Sat, May 8 | vs. Memphis | 7:30 PM |
| Tue, May 11 | vs. LA | 7:30 PM |
| Thu, May 13 | at Chicago | 8:00 PM |
| Fri, May 14 | at Dallas | 9:00 PM |
| Sun, May 16 | vs. Indiana | TBD |
FiveThirtyEight projects the Raptors to finish the season with a 31-41 record, giving them a 34 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Lottery odds
The Raptors are still in the mix for the play-in tournament, but they're also in the mix for the top pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Owners of the league's sixth-worst record, the Raptors currently have the sixth-best odds of landing the No. 1 pick, per Tankathon.
The teams ahead of Toronto (18-30): Washington (17-29), Cleveland (17-30), Orlando (16-31), Detroit (13-34), Houston (13-34) and Minnesota (12-36).
The teams with the three worst records at the season's end will have the same odds for the No. 1 pick.
MORE: What future picks do the Raptors have?
Injury report
The Raptors will be without Kyle Lowry for the foreseeable future.
Prior to Toronto's loss to Oklahoma City, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said the six-time All-Star is expected to miss seven to 10 days with a right foot infection. If he is out 10 days, he will miss four more games.
Additionally, Rodney Hood suffered a strained right hip injury against the Thunder. X-rays were negative, but Nurse said postgame that they think his injury is "fairly serious."
Fred VanVleet also revealed that he, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are still recovering from COVID-19.
Fred VanVleet: "Our 3 best players - me, Pascal and OG - are trying to recover from COVID and we're all hitting the same conditioning wall at the same time. So there are spurs where we play high-level basketball and there are spurs where we suck. It's like we're fighting uphill"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 1, 2021
Upcoming free agents
Whether they make the playoffs or not, it's gearing up to be another busy offseason for the Raptors.
Not only do they have three picks in the 2021 NBA Draft — one first-round pick, plus two second-round picks — Kyle Lowry, Patrick McCaw and Stanley Johnson will each be unrestricted free agents, Gary Trent Jr. will be a restricted free agent and Aron Baynes has a team option in his contract for 2021-22, making him a potential unrestricted free agent.
According to RealGM's Keith Smith, the most cap space the Raptors can have in the offseason is $34.2 million.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.