Despite yet another loss to Bulls, Raptors clinch playoff spot

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By collapsing in just a few final unfocused minutes, the Toronto Raptors just fumbled away a chance to get the last word on one of the premier teams in the Eastern Conference.

After suffering three defeats at the hands of the Chicago Bulls this season, it looked as though the Raptors were going to win the fourth and final meeting Wednesday night in Toronto. Despite leading until late in the fourth quarter, the Raptors allowed the Bulls to fight back and beat them 116-103.

The Bulls improved to 44-29 and sit in third place of the East, while the Raptors fell to 42-30 and sit fourth. At the moment, Toronto's most likely first-round playoff foe looks to be the Washington Wizards, but with a not-outlandish amount of jockeying in the standings in the final three weeks, the Raptors could find themselves facing the Bulls as the No.4 and No.5 seeds. That matchup wouldn't have the Raptor faithful brimming with confidence for a longer playoff run this year.

Led by a 23-point performance by Jimmy Butler in just his second game back following an 11-game layoff with an elbow injury, and 18 from big man Pau Gasol, the Bulls were able to assemble a huge fourth quarter and steal a game the Raptors lead earlier in the night by as much as 13.

Greivis Vasquez had 22 points for Toronto, while DeMar DeRozan contributed 20, while Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson combined for 23 rebounds, yet the team sagged late and the Bulls triumphed. For a second straight night, the Raptors failed to actively punch their own playoff ticket; however by virtue of later evening losses by the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics, they backed into clinching a playoff spot.

"We've got to understand, teams like Chicago are going to execute and run their bread-and-butter plays at the end of the game," said DeRozan. "We've got to understand they're going to pick it up offensively and we've got to pick it up defensively and give ourselves a chance to win."

ESPN was on hand to broadcast the intriguing matchup, yet the two of its premier stars weren't on the floor Tuesday. Chicago's Derrick Rose was still rehabbing from a knee surgery in anticipation of a return in the coming weeks, while Lowry sat after re-aggravating a back injury the night before in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, a rest the team is calling indefinite.

The Raptors has struggled recently to play with urgency until times are desperate, but they jumped out to a fast first quarter lead -- largely thanks to five combined three-pointers from Terrence Ross and Greivis Vasquez -- and led 29-20 going into the second. Toronto seemed energetic despite being on the tail end of a back-to-back set, a night after falling to the Detroit Pistons on the road when Lou Williams' attempt at a game-winning three in the dying seconds didn't fall.

The Bulls stole the momentum in the second quarter though, outscoring Toronto in that frame, rumbling inside behind breakout rookie Nikola Mirotic and getting more aggressive with the three-ball too. By halftime, the Raptors were up by just four.

Toronto stretched the lead just inside the half as DeRozan fired out to an eight-point quarter. But Butler then erupted.  The Bulls star had just eight points at the half but suddenly exploded for ten in the third quarter alone and just kept motoring

The Raptors took an eight-point lead into the fourth, but the Bulls kept pushing closer and finally wrestled it away inside the four-minute mark. The Bulls scored 39 fourth quarter points and utterly deflated the Raptors.

"Just had to many mental errors, it's caught up to us and we paid for it," said Toronto's Terrence Ross. "We kind of took a couple of plays off and that really hurt us."

The late-game collapse was a terrible tone-setter for a Toronto team fighting to find a consistent and fiery identity before the regular season ends on April 15.

There are just ten games remaining in Toronto's regular season, including the next one, Friday at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers.