The Toronto Star (Dave Feschuk) reports: In their insatiable quest to fatten the bottom line, the crude capitalists who run the Raptors hit below the belt this year: specifically, they sold advertising space on the backsides of the resident scantily clad dance troupe. In doing so, they gifted the lecherous among their courtside seatholders a handy excuse. Something like: “But I was looking at her ad, honey.” Branded heinies are but one of the relatively new developments casual observers might have missed in Raptorworld this season.
InsideHoops.com editor says: I support anything that gives me an excuse to look even more closely at the dancers.

The AP reports: The Toronto Raptors will be in good shape if T.J. Ford shoots this way in the playoffs. While Ford finished with 18 points in 18 minutes, Tyrus Thomas scored a season-high 26 to lead Chicago to a 107-97 victory over Toronto on Wednesday night in what might have been interim coach Jim Boylan’s last game with the Bulls… Ford made the most of his time, hitting 7 of 9 shots—and 6 of 8 while scoring 16 in the first quarter. Chris Bosh finished with eight points in 15 minutes… Andrea Bargnani came off the bench and scored 13, while Kris Humphries added 14 points for the Raptors (41-41)… While Thomas finished one shy of his career scoring high, rookie Aaron Gray set career-highs with 19 points and 22 rebounds. But Chicago’s core players— Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon—did little as a woeful season came to a merciful end.

The AP reports: Rasho Nesterovic scored 20 points, Chris Bosh had 15 and the Raptors beat the Miami Heat 91-75 on Monday night. The win, coupled with Cleveland’s 91-90 victory at Philadelphia, gave Toronto the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and an opening round matchup with Orlando… Anthony Parker had 13 and Jason Kapono scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, when Toronto outscored Miami 21-11… Daequan Cook had 22 and Chris Quinn added 14 for the Heat, who lost for the 21st time in their past 24 games. Miami must beat Atlanta at home Wednesday to avoid the worst record in franchise history. The Heat went 15-67 in their inaugural 1988-89 season.

The Orlando Sentinel (Tim Povtak) reports: The Toronto Raptors, by virtue of their 91-75 victory against the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers’ controversial 91-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, earned the No. 6 seeding in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs so that is who the No. 3-seeded Orlando Magic will face in the first round. The Sixers lost and the Cavs clinched the No. 4 seeding after refs reviewed a foul by Samuel Dalembert at the end of their game and called the 76ers, who thought the game was over, out of the locker room. Officials put 0.2 second back on the clock, and the Cavs’ Devin Brown sank two free throws for the win.

The AP reports: Detroit finished the game with its “Zoo Squad”—Jarvis Hayes, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and rookies Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey. The group averages just 22.8 years of age, but the youngsters have proven their worth in back-to-back wins over Washington and Toronto… Stuckey led the Pistons with 18 points, while Maxiell and Billups added 14 each. Chris Bosh had his 30 and Rasho Nesterovic added 18, but T.J. Ford (10) was the only other player to reach double figures… Detroit used all 12 players before halftime, but still took a 50-45 advantage into the break. The Pistons outrebounded Toronto 23-13 in the half, including a 7-2 edge on the offensive glass.

The AP reports: After New Jersey was eliminated from playoff contention, Nets coach Lawrence Frank was apologetic for the Nets’ poor play. Carlos Delfino scored 24 points, Chris Bosh had 21 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Nets 113-85 victory Friday night… Vince Carter had 21 points and Devin Harris added 19 for the Nets, who last missed the playoffs in 2001 season… T.J. Ford and Andrea Bargnani each scored 14 as the Raptors rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter to beat the Nets for the third time in four games this season… Toronto’s Jose Calderon finished with 11 points and 10 assists.

The AP reports: Chris Bosh did his part to end Toronto’s slump. He would like the fans to do theirs. Bosh had 32 points and 11 rebounds and the Raptors ended a three-game losing streak with a 111-93 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. Anthony Parker added 18 points for the Raptors, who have struggled despite clinching a playoff spot last week. Toronto lost 15 of its previous 21 games. Fans booed the Raptors after their last home loss and didn’t make much noise Wednesday night. “It was quiet. Could you hear yourself talk?” Bosh asked reporters… Former Raptor Charlie Villanueva had a season-high 38 points and a career-high seven 3-pointers. He scored 25 of Milwaukee’s first 29 points.

The Toronto Sun (Mike Ganter) reports: At one point midway through the second quarter after the Raptors had taken the lead and the Bucks took a timeout, Chris Bosh angrily gestured at the fans to get off their hands and show a little support. “I was just saying it was quiet,” Bosh said. “I’m just saying: ‘I’m excited’. I don’t know if anyone else is excited but I’m excited. I’m not waiting for next week. I’m trying to do it right now and that’s the mentality we have to take as an organization.” And as for the fans. “If the crowd just reacts, it’s a tough place to play,” Bosh said. “We go to places like Dallas and Utah, Cleveland and Detroit and it’s loud. It really makes a difference and really gives them an advantage.”

The Toronto Star (Dave Feschuk) reports: Yesterday, coach Sam Mitchell mentioned that video viewing of an ongoing three-game losing streak has revealed too many instances where Raptors who should know better have caught the ball on the perimeter with straight legs. This is a grade-school no-no, of course. In a game of bang-bang reaction, it’s a posture that says: “I’m no threat.” A straight-legged offensive player doesn’t have time to be a threat. By the time he bends his knees and assumes the proper offensive stance – the so-called triple-threat position – he has lost whatever edge he once had. Mitchell demonstrated. “If I catch it like this” – and here the coach got into the classic triple-threat position, his knees bent to drive, his wrist cocked to shoot or pass – “you don’t know if I’m going to shoot, pass or dribble. You’ve got to catch the ball in triple threat.”

The AP reports: A day after the ankle prevented him from playing against Detroit, Vince Carter returned to the lineup and scored 32 points to lead the Nets to a 99-90 victory over the struggling Toronto Raptors on Saturday night… Richard Jefferson added 28 points and Devin Harris had 12 points and seven assists as the Nets won for only the fourth time in 11 games… Rasho Nesterovic had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the playoff-bound Raptors, who lost their third straight and 11th in 15 games. Chris Bosh added 18 points for Toronto, which had all five starters score in double figures. The bench contributed 13 points on 6-of-22 shooting… Carter, who also added seven rebounds and five assists, then took over.