The 2014–15Toronto Raptors season was the 20th season of the franchise in the
National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] In honor of the Raptors 20th season, they revealed the throwback purple "dino" jerseys to wear on several nights. 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.
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.
Standings
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.
The 2014–15Toronto Raptors season was the 20th season of the franchise in the
National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] In honor of the Raptors 20th season, they revealed the throwback purple "dino" jerseys to wear on several nights. 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.
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.
Standings
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.