Raptors

The Toronto Raptors clinched a playoff spot for the eighth time in nine seasons thanks to a dominant performance from Pascal Siakam.

The Raptors had to be very careful with him, knowing that he was always a threat to shoot, and that he is a slippery player who can use his quickness and elite handle to get to all the spots to bend the defence, but the Raptors were mostly up to the task. During that blip, Ujiri was able to rebuild a former champion into a new group with a new identity, using two core pieces of the title along with a fresh crew of young and athletic prospects who have all shown major growth when given the chance. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds in his ongoing pursuit of the Rookie of the Year award. Meanwhile, VanVleet made his first All-Star appearance, Siakam is en route to a second All-NBA nod, and Nurse is as sharp as it gets as a tactician. The trick is to have at least one of them going, otherwise, it does put a strain on the starters to carry the offence, but overall the Raptors bench has been much steadier since the trade deadline acquisition of Young, who has been a calming and unselfish presence. He was quiet to start with Siakam dominating, but scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. VanVleet's cold night was the main reason why this game was close, as he missed a pair of wide-open threes where he even had the space to take the extra dribble before launching the shot, and yet he still couldn't get it to drop. VanVleet said after the game that he pushed through the injury during a key stretch in the schedule as the Raptors made their playoff push, and now that the job is done, the team can give him more than full week to rest before the start of the first round. Toronto doubled Atlanta in offensive rebounds 20 to 10 and was plus-20 in paint points as a result. VanVleet had a miserable game on the offensive end, shooting just 4-for-21 from the field including a miserable 1-for-11 from deep before his clutch triple to seal it, and while he was overeager on a few attempts, the bulk of his looks were open. The red-hot Hawks were standing in their way, winners of five straight while averaging nearly 130 points per game during that stretch, but the Raptors emerged victorious with a convincing performance where they dominated the paint and kept Trae Young under control. Atlanta eventually conceded and switched to sending double or triple teams at Siakam, which finally put an end to his scoring, but he still beat them with the pass.