Raptors 109, Bulls 98

3-0 to start the season, 3-0 to finish the season.... and a big fat hole in the middle.  (Thanks, U-E)

There you have it folks, this disappointing season is over.  I have to admit, it's somewhat disheartening to watch a Raps team pull it together too late into the season.  But the Raps went out like they came in, 3 straight wins to start and 3 straight wins to finish and like @Raps_Fan said on Twitter "let's forget the middle".  In the post-game interview with Bosh spoke about the team:

"We’ve been playing fantastic the last two or three weeks. I wish we could’ve had this group the whole season. I feel we could’ve gotten homecourt if we had this nucleus."

Really?  We'll never know. We can only see what pans out in this offseason, be it the draft, offseason signings, any coaching changes and whatever BC decides to do with Bosh.  All we know, is the Raps fans have been put out of their misery and can watch Raptor-less & Steve Nash-less playoff basketball and move on with their lives.

Last night's game was the Bulls game to lose.  With a #6 playoff seed on the line, the Bulls could have secured their the #6 spot but unfortunately with a combination of a Philly win over the Cavs and a loss to the Raps, they fell to the #7 spot.  The Sixers will now face off against the Magic in the first round and the Bulls to face off against the defending champs.  For the Raps, it was just an attempt to end off on a high note.  Jose Calderon set an NBA record with the highest free thow percentage accomplished in a season and Chris Bosh almost managed to get a 20-20 game scoring 21 points and grabbing 19 boards.  But his biggest accomplishment was becoming one of three NBA players to average 20-10 this season.  Only Chris Paul and Dwight Howard were the other players to accomplish it.  Shawn Marion had a career-high 34 pts along with 11 boards.

For the Bulls, they just couldn't keep up with the Raps last night.  Derrick Rose led the way for the Bulls with 20 pts, 11 assists and 6 boards and Ben Gordon had 23 pts on 9-22 shooting.  The Bulls just couldn't get it going, and I don't know if it was that Philly was playing Cleveland at home, but the Bulls may have just have been a little too relaxed from the get-go and couldn't get back into it.

Key Notes:

• Bulls finish off the season 41-41
• Andrea Bargnani (sore heel) sat the final game as Patrick O'Bryant got the start, finishing with 9 pts, 7 boards and 3 swats
• Jose Calderon had the double double with 14 pts and 14 assists
• The Bulls never had the lead during this game
• Raptors outrebounded 57-40
• For a Bulls perspective check out Pippen Ain't Easy
• Raptors next game?  October 2009

Photo credit:  (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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