Toronto Raptors Valentine's Day Record Promises Playoffs to Fans

After winning their much-anticipated final game before the All-Star break, 104-93, over the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers, the 29-23 Toronto Raptors are firmly above the .500 mark and history tells us the Raptors will be giving their fans another Happy Valentine’s Day gift.

Every season, the Toronto Raptors have made it to Valentine’s Day with a better than .500 record, they have made it to the playoffs.  For a team celebrating its 15th season in the NBA, a trip to the playoffs seems wholly appropriate.

In the Raptors' first four seasons in the NBA, with one-arm tied firmly behind their backs as part of their expansion agreement, the Toronto Raptors averaged just 22.5 wins per season.  By Valentine’s Day, the only thing that was certain about the team’s immediate future was that preparing for the playoffs was not going to be one of their problems.

But for the most part, Torontonians were happy just to have NBA ball being played in their city.

With the arrival of Vince Carter from the 1998 draft, the Raptors fortunes began to change.  In the 1999-00 season, the Toronto Raptors had their first ever winning season, and on Valentine’s Day their record stood at 26-21.

This first Valentine’s Day gift divined the Raptors first trip to the playoffs and the team went 8-2 after Valentine’s Day to solidify its place in Raptors history.

Next year on Feb. 13, 2001, the Raptors beat the Cavs 120-105 to run their record to 27-23, making it a happy Valentine’s Day for Raptors fans again.  But this time, the Raptors made their fans nervous post-Valentine’s Day by losing four of five before running off a five-game winning streak.

This second positive Valentine’s Day record ended in a record number of wins for the franchise and a second-round playoff appearance.

On Feb. 13, 2002, the Raptors were 29-23 and had just lost two games in a row after reaching 29-21 on Feb. 7 when they beat the Spurs in OT.

While a Valentine’s Day record over .500 did lead to yet another playoff appearance by the Raptors, this time, the team continued losing after Feb. 14 and racked up a 13-game losing skid.  Fortunately, the Raptors managed a nine-game winning streak toward the end of the season to get back above the .500 mark.

The next four seasons saw a return to obscurity by the Raptors as they just managed to win an average of 29.25 games per season.  Only in 2004 did the Raptors come close to a .500 record on Valentine’s Day. They lost on Feb. 12 to fall to 25-26, then they extended this loss into a nine-game losing skid to fall completely out of the playoff race.

With the arrival of Bryan Colangelo in 2006, the Raptors fortunes made a turn for the better.  In his first season as GM, the rebuilt franchise tied the 47 win mark set by the 2000-01 team.

On Valentine’s Day in 2007, the Raptors were 29-24 having just beat the New Jersey Nets 120-109 at the Air Canada Centre.  The next 10 games split 5-5, but the Raptors had a six game winning streak in April to tie the previous franchise record for wins.

This Raptors team exceeded all expectations by winning its division, but bowed out in the first round of the playoffs to the more experienced Nets.

The next year, on Feb. 13, 2008, the Raptors beat the Nets again at the ACC to bring their record to 28-23.  Another Happy Valentine’s Day for Raptors fans. But this was the year of the TJ Ford/ Jose Calderon fiasco and the Raptors early promise wasn’t fulfilled.

The early playoff exit in 2008 was disappointing.

The 2008-09 season was the year of Jermaine O’Neal.  By Valentine’s Day, the Raptors were 21-34 and any hope of playoffs was long forgotten.

In the current season, the now 29-23 Toronto Raptors faced the Philadelphia 76ers in their final game before Valentine’s Day with a chance to tie the Raptors' record for wins before the All-Star break (and Valentine’s Day).  The Raptors made things interesting by surrendering a 23-point third quarter lead before pulling out the win by scoring the game's final 11 points.

But, more importantly, the 2009-10 Toronto Raptors have assured themselves of a plus-.500 record at an all-important point in the season and have made a return trip to the playoffs extremely likely.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Raptors fans.

Your team is making their 15th anniversary season, a season worth remembering.