Raptors will have to wait until Sunday to learn their playoff opponent
The Toronto Raptors will be the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.Ā
This they know, courtesy of a 133-120 win by the Philadelphia 76ers against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday afternoon.Ā
What’s to be determined is who they’ll play in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs.Ā
That’ll come Sunday.Ā
The Raptors, who sport a 48-33 record on the season and officially punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs four days ago, can play either the 76ers or Boston Celtics, pending the outcome of the remaining games in their regular-season schedules.
Each can finish either third or fourth in the Eastern Conference.Ā
The Celtics (50-31) play the Memphis Grizzlies — second in the Western Conference — on Sunday night. The 76ers, who improved to 50-31 with their win Saturday, finish against the 14th-place Detroit Pistons.Ā
If Boston wins of Philadelphia loses, the Sixers will finish fourth. If the Celtics lose and 76ers wins, Boston will finish fourth.
The Raptors, who will play the New York Knicks on Sunday with no implication on the standings, are 2-2 against Boston and 3-1 against Philadelphia this season.
Either opponent could be shorthanded when they play the Raptors in Toronto. Since January 15, players need to be fully vaccinated to enter Canada.
Boston and Philadelphia did not confirm to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that their rosters are fully vaccinated two weeks ago.Ā
āWhen asked directly within the past 24 hours if their teams are fully vaccinated, both the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers declined to comment to ESPN ā opening the possibility that both teams could potentially be missing players in road games of a first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors,ā Bontemps wrote in anĀ article March 30.
Four Celtics did not play at Toronto on March 28, including Robert Williams (meniscus) and Al Horford (missed two games for personal reasons), as well as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (both right knee injuries).Ā
Tatum and Williams are both reportedly vaccinated, while Horford told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe yesterday that he is vaccinated. The vaccination status of Brown remains unclear.
The 76ers visited Toronto on Thursday, with Mattise Thybulle not making the trip for Philadelphia while listed as being “ineligible to play”.
The NBA play-in tournament begins April 12, with the first round of the playoffs kicking off April 16.