Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “,….. proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body.
Pete’s Auto Body; because we care about our community….
Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse calls tonight’s NBA game against the Washington Wizards at Tampa Bay ” The Last Chance Saloon “.
Nurse, who is refreshingly honest, is referring to the playoff hopes of the Toronto Raptors who have qualified for the post season for 7 consecutive seasons.
More accurately though, ” The Last Chance Saloon ” may be shuttered as far as the Raptors are concerned.
With the Wizards narrow last night at Milwaukee, Washington holds the final ” Play-In ” spot in the Eastern Conference by 3 games over Toronto.
While the math does suggest Toronto could catch Washington, it’s highly, HIGHLY unlikely.
The Raptors have 6 games remaining and even with a victory over the Wizards tonight, they will have just 1 game remaining against a team that’s lower than them in the standings.
Washington, by comparison, in their final half dozen games have just 2 games, both of them against Atlanta, in which the opposition has a record above .500
The Raptors must win tonight, but even if they do win against the Wizards, a horrid start to the season over the first 10 games when they were 2 & 8 plus a ravaged roster afflicted with COVID-19 contrinuting to a 1 & 13 month of March torpedoed Toronto long before they arrived at ” The Last Chance Saloon. ”
For Pete’s Auto Body, I’m Fred Wallace.