With Friday's 105-103 win over the Boston Celtics, the Toronto Raptors clinched their first playoff berth since 2007-08, bringing an end to the NBA's third-longest ongoing playoff drought.
The Raptors' five-year drought was tied with the Washington Wizards', and the 37-35 Wizards are poised to clinch a playoff berth of their own in the coming days. With both squads headed for the postseason, the 26-46 Detroit Pistons will become owners of the league's third-longest drought, having not participated in the playoffs since 2008-09.
The Pistons are stuck in an ugly part of franchise history but still have a ways to go to catch the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings, with the former about to miss the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season and the latter set to miss out for an eighth consecutive year. Upon being officially eliminated, the Pistons will see their own streak move to five seasons, matching what the Wizards and Raptors just did.
The Toronto franchise hasn't found much success since its inception in 1995, but Raptors fans can perhaps take some comfort in knowing that the team's success seems to come in streaks.
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Toronto Raptors End NBA’s Third-Longest Playoff Drought
March 29th, 2014 by Bleacher Report Milestones Leave a reply »
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