Raptors clinch with big win

Toronto is back in the National Basketball Association playoffs after a 136-101 win over Brooklyn locked the Raptors into the Eastern Conference field on April 12. (cbc.ca) The Raptors finished 46-36, clinched fifth place in the East, and avoided the play-in tournament with the regular season ending Sunday. Scottie Barnes posted 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his third triple-double of the season. (cbc.ca; espn.com) RJ Barrett scored 26 points, Brandon Ingram added 25, and Toronto led comfortably enough that the 35-point margin became its clincher. Brooklyn closed 20-62 and finished on a three-game losing streak. (cbc.ca) The result ended a four-season playoff drought for Toronto, which last reached the postseason in 2022 and then went through two losing years in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Team president Masai Ujiri’s reset moved out veterans such as Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby and shifted the roster around Barnes, Barrett and Ingram. (cbc.ca; toronto.citynews.ca) Toronto’s seed also settled its first-round matchup. The Raptors open against the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m. Eastern in Cleveland. (nba.com; espn.com) The timing mattered because the Eastern Conference play-in games did not begin until April 14 and April 15, after Toronto had already secured a direct berth. That let the Raptors skip the extra elimination round and move straight into a best-of-seven series. (espn.com; nba.com) Toronto did have one immediate concern in the clincher: starting point guard Immanuel Quickley did not return after halftime because of right hamstring tightness. He finished with four points and five assists in 17 minutes. (cbc.ca) Now the Raptors head into Cleveland with a playoff spot secured, a top-five seed in hand, and Barnes at the center of the team’s first postseason return in four years. (toronto.citynews.ca; nba.com)