Toronto clinches a spot into the play-in tournament with a win over the Hornets.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 36 points, Fred VanVleet added 20 points and a career-high 20 assists and the Toronto Raptors beat the undermanned Charlotte Hornets 128-108 on Sunday to secure a spot in the NBA play-in tournament.
O.G. Anunoby added 23 points for the Raptors, who clinched after the Brooklyn Nets beat the Utah Jazz later in the day.
The Raptors (39-39) are now focused on seeding with four games remaining.
They entered the day tied with the Atlanta Hawks for eighth place in the Eastern Conference and looking to move up in the standings to secure a better chance of advancing out of the play-in tournament. The team finishing eighth needs just one victory; the team finishing ninth would need two to reach the postseason as the No. 8 seed.
“It’s really important for us” to get to the 8 seed, VanVleet said. “For the last couple of weeks it has been really simple for us — we’re in a win-every-game mode. There’s not much to think about. You have to go out and perform and play your best and try to take care of business. We are just trying to play our best basketball at this time of the year.”
VanVleet, who now owns the franchise single-game records for points and assists, made sure the Raptors were on top of their game.
