Heading into Wednesday, the final night of the NBA season, the Raptors have won eight more games than the Milwaukee Bucks. Their net rating, plus-4.8 points per 100 possessions, is fourth-best in the league and is tops in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee’s, just a hair above neutral, ranks 11th and sixth in those categories, respectively.



Even when limiting the comparison to Feb. 8 — the date Khris Middleton returned from a torn hamstring — through to the end of the season, the span during which the Bucks went from likely lottery team to scary sleeper, the Raptors were the better team. Milwaukee had the best record in the conference during that stretch, going 20-11, but the Raptors were a very sturdy 18-10, despite Kyle Lowry’s wrist surgery that knocked him out of the lineup for 21 games. And the Raptors’ net rating during that span, plus-3.3, dwarfed Milwaukee’s plus-0.8. Toronto is a better offensive team than the Bucks, a better...