The Toronto Raptors' road to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 has been long and winding, and — technically at least — was still in doubt until Sunday night when the Raptors hosted the Brooklyn Nets for the final game of the 82-game regular season. 

We say technically because the Nets have been among the leaders of the NBA’s most determined collection of tankers in league history. For them, winning had long ago ceased to be a motivation. They had nine regulars listed out on their injury report. If you listened closely, you could hear "1-2-3 Cancun" when they broke from timeouts. 

The Raptors' task was therefore simple: win, improve their record to 46-36 and lock down sixth place. With some luck — the Miami Heat beating the Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic losing to the Boston Celtics — and the Raptors could end up fifth. 

As it turned out, who doesn’t like Cleveland in the spring? 

The Raptors dominated the Nets for the 136-101 win and then had to hang around the televisions in their locker room to watch the Celtics — who sat all their starters — outlast the Magic, nudging the Raptors into fifth.

They will play the fourth-seeded Cavaliers (52-30) instead of the third-seeded Knicks. 

On paper, maybe a good thing, since the Raptors went 3-0 against the Cavs this season, and 0-5 against the Knicks. 

But any regular-season results are probably only mildly relevant since Cleveland and Toronto haven’t met since Nov. 24th. Cleveland comes into the post-season relatively healthy and has since added James Harden, making them the justified heavy favourites. 

As an added concern, Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley left the game at halftime with hamstring tightness in his right leg. He went for testing afterwards. On the bright side, the Raptors won’t play until Saturday at the earliest.

So on Sunday night, those were concerns for another time. The Raptors set a lofty goal and reached it, which is something to be recognized and saluted. 

They were a 25-win team two years ago, starting a rebuild without the benefit of their first-round draft pick and had finally divorced itself from the remnants of their championship era. Last season, they won 30 games in what was a relatively unsuccessful tanking mission in that they finished with the NBA’s seventh-worst record and moved back to the ninth pick on lottery night. Team president Masai Ujiri was fired. It was a new era.  

There was optimism that the Raptors could be competitive this season with better health and the addition of Brandon Ingram, but no guarantees. 

"Obviously, we never set a goal of get this seed or that seed,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “We were just focusing on our work, focusing on the things that were in our control. The hand played out well for us this year. We won 46 games, 16 more than last season. We saw a lot of growth from this roster. The best part of it is that we’re gonna have an opportunity to play in the playoffs. As much as all of those games meant to put us in the playoffs, it’s going to be an amazing experience for our team to go in the playoffs. We’re just gonna take it one game at a time. Our mentality is not gonna change. We’re gonna try to win one game, this next game, and see where we end up.”

It’s been a breakthrough year for Scottie Barnes, who finished the season with career bests in games played (80), minutes played, points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals, and was the hub on what ended up being the NBA’s fifth-best defence heading into play Sunday — something........

© Sportsnet