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TSN Raptors Reporter

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BOSTON - The Bulls are in the driver's seat going into Wednesday's regular season finale. 

All the Raptors can do is take care of their own business, sit and watch as Chicago decides their playoff fate an hour later.

The two teams have been going back and forth in the Eastern Conference standings, jockeying for the third and fourth seeds, which will ultimately determine their first-round opponents.

On Monday, Chicago's decisive win over the Nets put them ahead and with Toronto's 95-93 loss in Boston a day later - their second nail-biting defeat to the Celtics in 10 days - the Raptors' forfeited control of their own destiny.

With the final day of the campaign looming, here's where they stand.

The Raptors host Charlotte at 7pm et/4pm pt. (TSN, TSN 1050 Radio). The Hornets, losers of five straight contests, are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Chicago's opponent, the Hawks, also have nothing to play for - they're locked into the top seed in the East. That game tips off at 8pm et/5pm pt.

If Toronto loses, they'll be locked into the fourth seed and play the Washington Wizards in the opening series.

Should Toronto win, they'll need Chicago to lose in order to claim third-place and face the Milwaukee Bucks to begin the post-season.

If Chicago wins, the Raptors get fourth, regardless of how they fared earlier.

"I don't think it matters to us at all," said Kyle Lowry, who scored 16 points in his third game back from injury Tuesday night. "You don't want to affect the seeding. You just want to go out there and play. Whatever happens, happens. It's meant to be."

"It doesn't matter," Amir Johnson echoed after making his return from an ankle injury that kept him out of four games. "We played a great season, we're in the playoffs and I feel like no matter where we are in the first round we're going to do well."

Despite the indifference from most players in the Raptors locker room, there are at least a couple who have made the same observation as many of the team's fans. If Toronto finishes in fourth and gets past Washington - which is far from a certainty - they'd likely draw the Hawks in the second round. If they finish third and dispose of Milwaukee, they would be in line to face LeBron James and the daunting Cavaliers.

For that reason, some have wondered whether it's in their best interest to earn the higher seed.

On Tuesday the Raptors opted to sit DeMar DeRozan in Boston. It was surprise scratch. Dwane Casey had indicated he would not rest his players, so it seemed like an odd decision.

As it turns out, DeRozan appears to be further from full health as we realized. The team's leading scorer left Saturday's win in Miami briefly after taking a hard fall and tweaking his groin. It was on the opposite side as the groin injury he missed 21 games with earlier this season, for what it's worth.

"His groin is sore and didn't want to risk re-injuring it," Casey said after Tuesday's game. "If it'd been a playoff game he probably could have gone but I was going with the training staff and what they recommended to rest him, to not take a chance, get another day's rest."

DeRozan said it was merely a precaution in the first game of a back-to-back set to end the season and plans to play in Wednesday's finale.

Johnson looked good in limited minutes and Lowry continues to shake off the rust he collected sitting out nine of 10 games. Getting all three of them as close to 100 per cent as possible, against whomever they face next week, is the most important thing.

"I think our biggest thing is making sure everybody's healthy, well rested and focused on the playoffs," said Johnson, who had eight points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes against the Celtics. "I think that's what everybody's mood is right now."

If anyone - inside or outside the locker room - is looking ahead to the second round, they shouldn't be.

The Raptors franchise has never won a seven-game playoff series. Never in 19 years of existence. Their only series win was a best-of-five against the New York Knicks before the NBA changed the playoff format. After starting the season 24-8, they're a .500 team since the calendar turned to 2015. They're not good enough, they haven't accomplished enough to warrant looking ahead. At this stage in their program, winning one round would be a coup, and that should be the goal.

"We're where we thought we would be," Casey said. "We lost some games we shouldn't have, I thought. We also won some games we probably shouldn't have. So those things kind of even themselves out. We are where we are. The progress, the steps we're taking in our program are there. Similar to what Boston's going through. Everybody had them going to the lottery this year. Everybody had us going to the lottery last year. So it's the same sort of path and the next step for both of us is the toughest."

The next step begins Saturday afternoon when the Raptors will open their first-round series at the Air Canada Centre. Who stands in their way? We'll find out in short order.