Opportunities to inch closer to the play-in round have presented themselves to the Toronto Raptors, perhaps none more prevalent than Saturday night. Both the Bulls and Wizards lost, giving the Raptors a chance to get within two games of the 10th seed.
But in consecutive games the Raptors have run out of steam in the fourth quarter. On Saturday, up four on the Utah Jazz entering the fourth, the Raptors offense went missing in the final 12 minutes leading to their third straight loss.
Now with eight games left on the schedule and still three games back of the 10th seed, the Raptors run into a Lakers team that has both Anthony Davis and LeBron James back.