Raptors lose to Celtics, Bulls 1/2 game out of 8th seed.

By Sean Mackey

The Toronto Raptors fell to the Boston Celtics 115-104 last night. This loss put the Raptors just 1/2 game ahead of the Bulls for the 8th and final playoff spot. It was announced after last night's game that Toronto's leading scorer Chris Bosh will miss the rest of the regular season with a facial fracture he sustained in a game against Cleveland on Tuesday. Although the odds should be in the Bulls favor, they're not.

Chicago failed to capitalize at home on Tuesday night with a Milwaukee Bucks team who was without their star center, Andrew Bogut . The Bulls were absolutely terrible in the 2nd quarter and scored a season low 9 points. After Milwaukee took the lead, the Bulls tied it later in the 4th quarter before collapsing completely.

The Bulls finish out the season with games against Cleveland (tonight), New Jersey, Toronto, Boston and Charlotte. With the exception of maybe the NJ game, this is going to be a tough last 5 games for the Bulls. The Toronto game on Sunday will probably dictate who's going to the playoffs. If you remember back to last season, Toronto beat the Bulls in one of the last games of the season, forcing Chicago to play the Boston Celtics in their epic 7 game series. Had the Bulls won that game, they would have been playing the Magic, who of course went on to the NBA Finals. Not to say the Bulls would have done any better in a Magic series but it would have made things very interesting. Once again, this year, the Bulls fate lies in a Toronto Raptors game.

The Toronto Raptors have a considerably easier schedule than Chicago does with games against Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and New York. With exception of maybe the Atlanta and Chicago games, Detroit and New York are very winnable.

The Bulls play the Cleveland Cavaliers on national television tonight live on TNT @ 8 p.m.