2014–15 Toronto Raptors season

2014–15 Toronto Raptors season
Division Champions
Head coach Dwane Casey
Owner(s) Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Arena Air Canada Centre
Results
Record 49–33 (.598)
Place Division: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish First Round
(Lost to Wizards 0–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 2014–15 Toronto Raptors season was the 20th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The Raptors repeated as Atlantic Division champions for the first time in franchise history, and finished in fourth place in Eastern conference, winning 49 games during the regular season, breaking their franchise record of 48 wins in the previous season. Despite this achievement, the fourth-seeded Raptors were unexpectedly swept in the opening round of the playoffs by the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards as they extended their post-season series victory drought. Their all-time playoff series record dipped to one and seven, now having lost their last six consecutive series, and their lone series win coming in 2001 against the Knicks. This year's defeat was primarily blamed on the team's poor defense which was notably exploited by the Wizards.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Club Team
1 20 Bruno Caboclo SF  Brazil E.C. Pinheiros (Brazil)
2 37 DeAndre Daniels SF  United States Connecticut
2 59 Xavier Thames SG  United States San Diego State

Regular season

The Raptors took advantage of a favourable early schedule to reach the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time in franchise history as well as having the best start in franchise history with a 9–2 record. They briefly fell back to second after a loss to the Chicago Bulls, but regained the number one position one game later, which was followed by six-game winning streak. The Raptors remained as Eastern Conference leaders, but on November 28, 2014, the Raptors not only lost their position as NBA-leaders in a 106–102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks that dropped them to a 13-3 record but also faced a major setback when All-Star DeMar DeRozan tore his left adductor longus tendon in the third quarter of the game. This was followed by another loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime two nights later when Kobe Bryant recorded his first triple double of the season defeating the Raptors 129-122. The Raptors also fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in back-to-back games before entering a six-game winning streak without DeRozan. However, things began to fall apart after a six-game road trip during the winter holidays where they lost 4 of those 6 games as poor defense led to a 2-8 record in their first ten games in January. The downfall dropped the team from first place to the Atlanta Hawks and found themselves battling for second with the Washington Wizards as DeRozan returned to the lineup on January 14. On January 22, Kyle Lowry was named as a starter for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game after a last-minute voting rally by fans with help by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and celebrity Justin Bieber (who tweeted his support on Twitter but failed to include '#NBAballot' in his tweet) helped Lowry overtake Dwyane Wade who was second in the backcourt votes. This makes him the third Raptor to start in the all-star game after Chris Bosh and Vince Carter. The Raptors ended the month of January on a positive note with a six-game winning streak which included back-to-back overtime victories to the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards however, struggled in February as the Raptors went 4-7. The rest of the season represented a decline for the Raptors as they won just 13 of 29 games after the all-star break and all-star point guard Lowry averaged 15.3 PPG while struggling with back spasms in the latter part of the season. Despite the lows, the Raptors finished once again as Atlantic Division Champions finishing with a franchise-high 49 wins while clinching the fourth seed.

Playoffs

The Raptors faced off against the Wizards in the opening round of the playoffs where they once again faced Paul Pierce who faced the Raptors in the previous year with the Brooklyn Nets where he blocked a potential game-winning shot by Lowry. Much of the anticipation for the playoffs were created by Pierce who stated that the Raptors 'did not have it' which disgruntled many Raptor fans.

Standings

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div GP
y-Toronto Raptors 49 33 .598 0.0 27–14 22–19 11–5 82
x-Boston Celtics 40 42 .488 9.0 21–20 19–22 12–4 82
x-Brooklyn Nets 38 44 .463 11.0 19–22 19–22 10–6 82
Philadelphia 76ers 18 64 .220 31.0 12–29 6–35 2–14 82
New York Knicks 17 65 .207 32.0 10–31 7–34 5–11 82
Eastern Conference
# Team W L PCT GB GP
1 c-Atlanta Hawks * 60 22 .732 – 82
2 y-Cleveland Cavaliers * 53 29 .646 7.0 82
3 x-Chicago Bulls 50 32 .610 10.0 82
4 y-Toronto Raptors * 49 33 .598 11.0 82
5 x-Washington Wizards 46 36 .561 14.0 82
6 x-Milwaukee Bucks 41 41 .500 19.0 82
7 x-Boston Celtics 40 42 .488 20.0 82
8 x-Brooklyn Nets 38 44 .463 22.0 82
9 Indiana Pacers 38 44 .463 22.0 82
10 Miami Heat 37 45 .451 23.0 82
11 Charlotte Hornets 33 49 .402 27.0 82
12 Detroit Pistons 32 50 .390 28.0 82
13 Orlando Magic 25 57 .305 35.0 82
14 Philadelphia 76ers 18 64 .220 42.0 82
15 New York Knicks 17 65 .207 43.0 82

Record vs opponents

Eastern Conference Western Conference
Atlantic Division Northwest Division
Team Home Away Team Home Away
Boston 109–96 116–117* 110–107 93–95 Denver 112–107* 116–102
Brooklyn 105–89 93–109 127–122* 109–114 Minnesota 105–100 113–99
New York 118–108 106–89 95–90* 98–103 Oklahoma City 100–88 104–108
Philadelphia 120–88 100–84 91–86 114–103 Portland 97–113 97–102*
Utah 111–93 123–104
6–2 5–3 4–1 3–2
Division 11–5 Division 7–3
Central Division Pacific Division
Team Home Away Team Home Away
Chicago 93–100 103–116 120–129 92–108 Golden State 89–113 105–126
Cleveland 91–105 112–120 110–93 101–105 L.A. Clippers 123–107 110–98
Detroit 111–114 114–110 110–100 104–108 L.A. Lakers 94–83 122–129*
Indiana 106–94 104–91 117–98 Phoenix 104–100 109–125
Milwaukee 124–82 75–82 92–89 Sacramento 119–102 117–109
3–6 5–4 4–1 2–3
Division 8–10 Division 6–4
Southeast Division Southwest Division
Team Home Away Team Home Away
Atlanta 109–102 89–110 126–115 105–80 Dallas 102–106 92–99
Charlotte 95–103 92–87 94–103 92–74 Houston 99–96 76–98
Miami 102–92 102–107 107–104 Memphis 96–92 86–92
Orlando 104–100 95–82 108–95 101–99 New Orleans 93–95 97–100
Washington 103–84 95–93 120–116* San Antonio 87–82 107–117
7–2 7–2 3–2 0–5
Division 14–4 Division 3–7
Conference 33–19 (Home: 16–10; Away: 17–9) Conference 16–14 (Home: 11–4; Away: 5–10)
Overall 49–33 (Home: 27–14; Away: 22–19)

(* game decided in overtime)

Game log

Preseason

2014 pre-season game log
Total: 7–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 3–1)
Pre-season: 7–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 3–1)
2014–15 season schedule

Regular season

2014–15 game log
Total: 49–33 (Home: 27–14; Road: 22–19)
October: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
November : 12–4 (Home: 8–2; Road: 4–2)
December : 11–4 (Home: 5–1; Road: 6–3)
January : 9–7 (Home: 4–4; Road: 5–3)
February : 4–7 (Home: 3–3; Road: 1–4)
March : 7–8 (Home: 5–3; Road: 2–5)
April : 5–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 4–2)
2014–15 season schedule

Playoffs

Game log

2015 playoff game log
Total: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2)
First Round: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2)
2015 playoff schedule

Player statistics

Injuries

Roster

2014–15 Toronto Raptors roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
F 5 Caboclo, Bruno 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995–09–21 Brazil
G/F 10 DeRozan, DeMar (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1989–08–07 Southern California
G/F 2 Fields, Landry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1988–06–27 Stanford
F/C 50 Hansbrough, Tyler 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1985–11–03 North Carolina
F/C 44 Hayes, Chuck 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1983–06–11 Kentucky
F/C 15 Johnson, Amir 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1987–05–01 Westchester HS (CA)
F 3 Johnson, James 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 248 lb (112 kg) 1987–02–20 Wake Forest
G 7 Lowry, Kyle (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1986–03–25 Villanova
C 92 Nogueira, Lucas 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1992–07–26 Brazil
F/C 54 Patterson, Patrick 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1989–03–14 Kentucky
G/F 31 Ross, Terrence 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1991–02–05 Washington
C 34 Stiemsma, Greg 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1985–09–26 Wisconsin
C 17 Valančiūnas, Jonas 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1992–05–06 Lithuania
G 21 Vásquez, Greivis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 211 lb (96 kg) 1987–01–16 Maryland
G 23 Williams, Louis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1986–10–27 South Gwinnett HS (GA)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (DL) On assignment to
    D-League affiliate
  • Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: 2015–03–26

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Re-signed

Player Signed Contract Ref.

Additions

Player Signed Former team Ref.

Subtractions

Player Reason left Date New team Ref.

Awards

Player Award Date awarded Ref.

References

  1. ↑ Koreen, Eric. "Toronto Raptors unveil 20th anniversary logo: No Drake but plenty of purple". National Post. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
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