TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors already have the most regular-season wins in their history and will finish first in the Eastern Conference
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The Raptors defeated the Indiana Pacers 92-73 on Friday night to earn their 57th win of the season, which surpasses their previous best of 56, and clinched first place in the conference for the first time.
“It’s gratification but you are not satisfied, I guess is how I would like to put it because we haven’t got to our ultimate goal,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.
The Raptors (57-22) conclude their home schedule Sunday when they play the Orlando Magic (24-55) at the Air Canada Centre. They have two more road games to complete their regular season and will have the home-court advantage through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
“It is a feeling of gratification in the fact of where we started,” Casey said. “Seven years ago, at the bottom of the conference so to speak, bottom of offense, defense and the building process. … DeMar DeRozan coming from a young skinny kid at USC to where he is now. Kyle Lowry coming in and Jonas (Valanciunas) coming from Lithuania and growing
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The Raptors, who have set a team record with 33 home victories, have won 17 of their past 20 games against Orlando, including both meetings this season. Toronto has swept the season-series with the Magic four times in team history, most recently in 2014-15.
While Toronto is hoping for a long playoff run, Orlando is looking at a possible lottery pick in the NBA draft.
The Charlotte Hornets defeated a depleted Orlando lineup 137-100 on Friday night.
Injuries have beset the Magic. Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross have been out with knee injuries and Jonathon Simmons also missed his ninth straight game with a right wrist contusion. Aaron Gordon (sore right calf) and Nikola Vucevic (tight lower back) also were scratched from the lineup Friday.
Talented rookie Jonathan Isaac will miss his fourth straight game Sunday with a sprained left ankle and his injury-plagued season could be over.
“Unless he turns a corner, there is a good chance he doesn’t play again this year,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said. “The emphasis of his offseason will be to strengthen his lower extremities.”
The Magic had four G-League callups in the lineup Friday and the team had a slow start, forcing Vogel to call two timeouts before eight minutes had been played.
“Our four young guys
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The Raptors, meanwhile, hope the end of the regular season is just a beginning.
“I mean it just shows you once you put your mind to something to work towards, a goal, it can be accomplished,” DeRozan said. “We did that, now you know we have another goal that we want to reach as well
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Added Lowry: “This year we didn’t know what to expect. We knew things were going to be different and once we got into the season, we started playing well and kept going.”
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets find themselves moving deep into uncharted waters.
They’ve never led a Stanley Cup playoff series let alone taken a 2-0 lead. After winning both games on the road against the Washington Capitals in overtime, the Blue Jackets return home for Game 3 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series on Tuesday night at what’s expected to be a lively and loud Nationwide Arena.
“I just think we found our confidence at the right time and feel good about ourselves,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said after the 5-4 victory in Game 2 on Sunday night. “It’s a bridge that we have crossed and I hope we stay on the right side. We go out there knowing we’re going to win. It’s a bit of a swagger they have.”
The excitement is palpable in Columbus in anticipation of Game 3 after forward Matt Calvert scored the winner from the doorstep with one hand on his stick in Washington. But there’s plenty of work to do to win a playoff series for the first time in team history.
“We’re going to keep getting better,” Calvert said. “We’re going to keep learning every day. We’ll be ready for Game 3.”
More than any other player, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is responsible for the Blue Jackets’ two victories. He was peppered with 58 shots by the Capitals in Game 2 but came up with big saves time and again when Columbus was backed up in the defensive zone for long stretches.
“I would say your career is a journey and you learn some things here and there,” Bobrovsky said. “It doesn’t matter what’s in the past. We’re going to play (Game 3). It doesn’t matter what happened (in Game 2). Each moment is huge right now and you just have to be ready.”
The Blue Jackets are just the fifth team to overcome multi-goal deficits in back-to-back playoff games in NHL history, but that’s also a concern. They’ve fallen behind in both games largely because of too many penalties — 13 combined in Games 1 and 2.
The Capitals have scored on five of 13 power-play opportunities so far.
“I think we have a way of (staying out of the penalty box)
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The Capitals still have plenty of skill with Alexander Ovechkin leading the way, and they definitely have more postseason experience than the Blue Jackets.
Washington was in the same boat last year when it dropped the first two games of its second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Capitals rallied to force Game 7 before falling.
In 2009, the Capitals were trailing 0-2 against the New York Rangers before coming back to advance. But they’re also just the sixth team in league history to lose two at home in overtime to start a seven-game series, and all five ended up being eliminated.
So while there’s a sense of urgency for the Metropolitan Division champions given their past playoff failures, it’s not yet desperation.
“Right now we’re sitting here two in a hole,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “But at the same time, your group has an opportunity to grow, fight their way back.
“There’s a lot of character in our room. Our group has a lot of fight in it. We’re not going away. We’re going to be around. You’re going to see us dig in. You’re going to see us fight. We’re going to see something happen here. I’m excited to get to Columbus and for Game 3.”
The Capitals have outplayed the Blue Jackets for long stretches, but they’ve let leads slip away and the final result hasn’t gone their way.
“We’ve got to win
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Trotz has yet to indicate whether Philipp Grubauer or Braden Holtby will start in goal on Tuesday night. Holtby replaced Grubauer in Game 2.
“I think we’ve got to manage to not only get the lead but hold onto it,” Grubauer said. “It’s not easy. It’s a tough team to play against. But we made it really hard on ourselves, too.”
One Capitals player who definitely won’t see action in Games 3 or 4 is winger Andre Burakovsky, who suffered an upper-body injury in the first period on Sunday and did not make the trip.
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