At the risk of overreacting, this team is going to win 50 games and then lose in the first round again. The defense has been dubious all season and it's going to be painfully exposed in the playoffs.
Mike
I don't think people realize this. They see these wins that we've been getting, though against teams that we SHOULD beat, but this type of basketball isn't going to get us anywhere in the playoffs. Simply trying to outscore other teams while playing next to zero defense and not rebounding is an absolute recipe for disaster in the playoffs.
Do you expect Toronto to make it out of the first round?
Yes, but they're not quite as bad at us in those issues, along with having a significantly better offense with two iso scorers instead of just one. That's a big difference.
O efficiency - TOR (1st): 113.8 BOS (7th): 108.7
D efficiency - TOR (T-17th): 105.7 BOS (20th): 105.8
Rebounding Differential - TOR (T-18th): -0.3 BOS (T-27th): -4.0
That affords them quite a bit more leeway than us.
EDIT: They're also not nearly as dependent on the three with us, which also makes things different.