Raptors grab top‑six spot

Toronto is out of the East play-in and into the playoffs. The Raptors finished in the conference’s top six and locked up a first-round series with Cleveland. (nba.com) The Raptors ended the regular season at 46-36, tied with Atlanta but slotted into the No. 5 seed, while Cleveland finished No. 4 at 52-30. Toronto opens the playoffs on Saturday, April 18, at Cleveland. (sports.yahoo.com) The six automatic playoff teams in the Eastern Conference are Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Toronto and Atlanta. Philadelphia, Orlando, Charlotte and Miami dropped into the play-in tournament for the last two spots. (sports.yahoo.com) That top-six line matters because the National Basketball Association sends only seeds one through six straight to the first round. Seeds seven through 10 have to survive the SoFi Play-In Tournament, which began April 14 and feeds the final two playoff berths in each conference. (nba.com, espn.com) Toronto’s finish also changed the bracket shape in the East. New York drew Atlanta in the 3-versus-6 series, and Cleveland drew Toronto in the 4-versus-5 series. (nba.com) The standings were tight enough that record alone did not separate Toronto and Atlanta. Both clubs finished 46-36, and the league’s tiebreaker rules start with head-to-head record before moving to division and conference results. (nba.com) The East above them was set by the finish line: Detroit at 60-22, Boston at 56-26, New York at 53-29 and Cleveland at 52-30. Toronto’s 46 wins were enough to avoid the extra elimination risk that comes with the play-in. (espn.com) Now the Raptors get four days to prepare for a full best-of-seven series instead of a one-or-two-game scramble. Their postseason starts Saturday afternoon in Cleveland, with no play-in detour. (nba.com, sports.yahoo.com)