The Toronto Raptors aim to end the season on a positive note

The Toronto Raptors close out the 2023-24 season with a pair of games against the Miami Heat, starting Friday night in South Beach.

The Raptors will follow up Friday's contest with a matinee to close out the season on Sunday afternoon.

Catch Friday's game LIVE on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN.ca and the TSN App at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.

After losing 15 games in a row from March 5th to April 3rd, the Raptors had two wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards last week. But their momentum was short-lived as Toronto dropped games to the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, dropping their record to 25-55 with two games remaining.

If they don't win both games in Miami and match their record of 27-55 in 2005-06, Toronto's 2023-24 season will be the fifth-worst in franchise history and worst since 2002-03.

It's no secret that the Raptors have had a tough season. The trades of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby changed the look of the roster, and season-ending injuries to Scotty Barnes and Jakob Poeltl forced the team to finish the year with a skeleton crew.

Still, the team has been impressed with the behavior of new head coach Darko Rajakovic in a difficult first season.

“No matter what the situation is, no matter what the situation is, the way he's played five G Leagues at the same time, his routine has been beautiful,” Gary Trent Jr. told TSN's Josh Levenberg earlier this week. “He was in a tough situation and knew there was going to be a learning curve, but Darko was fantastic. He's second to none when it comes to making sure the team camaraderie is good, making sure everyone's still focused, trying to make everyone feel like they're coming together, making everyone feel cared for and thought of.”

“It's his first time as a head coach in this league, but honestly, wherever he's been before, I'd venture to guess that it hasn't changed that much, that many variables, that many things have happened. So he's done a great job of keeping the team even on their toes,” veteran guard Garrett Temple told Levenberg.

As the Raptors look to end things on a positive note, the Heat enter Friday's game needing every win they can get. Miami is currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 44-36, meaning they must win the Play-In Tournament to qualify for the postseason.

If play starts on Friday, the Heat will travel to face Joel Embiid and the seventh-ranked Philadelphia 76ers. If they lost, they would have to beat the ninth and 10th seeded winner.

A win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday and then a two-game sweep against the Raptors could have convinced the Heat they were no worse than the seventh seed. But instead, Erik Spoelstra's team got blown out by the Mavs, making their path to the postseason difficult.

“We've got to be better than that,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said.

“We have a great group,” Spoelstra said. “We have a very competitive dressing room. We all want the same thing. Sometimes this league can really get you down. And that's what happened tonight.”

The Raptors and Heat have split the season series to this point, with Miami sweeping Toronto 112-103 on Dec. 6 and the Raps rebounding with a 121-97 road win on Jan. 17.