Raptors Rapid Recap: Toronto 131 New York 113

In a first half typical of the Raptors’ season, they brought plenty of offence and no defence to lead 73-64 at the break. They shot a blistering 65% from the field overall and ended the game with a franchise-high 131 points in regulation. Meanwhile, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls were dismantling the Charlotte Bobcats by double digits in order to crush Toronto’s playoff aspirations.

At the beginning of the season, it was probably a decent guess that you’d need a .500 record to snag the final playoff spot in the East. And sure enough, the Raptors finished the season one game out of the playoffs at 40-42.

DeMar DeRozan capped a so-so rookie campaign with a career-high 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting with nine rebounds.

Also stepping up? Andrea Bargnani, Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems combined to shoot a blistering 20 of 27 from the field for 47 points in the first half.

Of course, in typical Raptors fashion, they buckled in the 3rd quarter and let the Knicks back into it by trading baskets and playing suspect defence before pulling away.

That’s all folks! Without a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers on tap, the HQ will focus on what’s next for the Raptors franchise. Look for lots of discussion about what went wrong in 2009-10, potential Bosh sign-and-trade scenarios and, of course, a look at draft prospects (now that the Raptors have retained their 2010 lottery pick).