Toronto, Ontario — The Raptors suffered a devastating blow to their playoff hopes with a 41-32 loss to the Indiana Pacers last night. Jalen Rose abused the Raptors for 15 points and Vince Carter had another sub-par performance. With less than a minute remaining, the game disconnected, but Raptors coach Mike Aparicio conceded the game.
"We got outplayed tonight," said a somber Aparicio after the game. "I didn't see any signs that we might come away with a win if we resumed play. I thought we'd be better off taking the loss and preparing for our next game."
Vince Carter was furious in the locker room after coach Aparicio decided to throw in the towel. "We almost had a minute left in the game," said Carter. "I've seen bigger comebacks than that in my two years in the league."
Raptors center Kevin Willis thinks that Aparicio did the right thing. "With the season winding down, every game is critical," Willis said. "Each loss really destroys our confidence. We've been complacent lately and Coach kind of sent a message to the team by giving up the game. We needed to have a fire lit under our asses to get us back in this thing, and Coach used a flamethrower."
If the Raptors hope to make the playoffs, they need a miracle. With eight of their remaining 10 games against teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings, every game is do or die.
"Mathematically, we're still in this race," said Aparicio. "But we can't slack off at this point in the season. Each of our remaining games is vital to our success in making the playoffs. If we win eight of our last ten we'll finish at .500, but we'll need to be perfect to pass New York and Indy. They're already over .500 and they're playing with tenacity. We've still got one more against each of them, and if we don't win those, we might as well start planning our summer vacation."
The Raptors take on the New Jersey Nets next, whom they have defeated two out of three times this season. After that, the Raptors face the Pistons, Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Pacers, Knicks, Bulls, and Heat before finishing out the season on the road against the Magic.