Fortunately, the home portion of Toronto's home schedule ends on Tuesday

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No one expects Masai Ujiri to walk to the middle of the court and apologize to the fans who were forced to watch so many nights of abhorrent basketball.

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Fortunately and mercifully, the home portion of the Raptors' season debacle officially ends on Tuesday night with a clash against the Indiana Pacers.

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Anyone who places value on the team's two-game winning streak is completely delusional or completely ignorant.

It can be pointed out that some of the numbers were posted by individual players, which may look good, but overall they mean nothing considering the Raptors have many roster holes that simply cannot and will not be properly addressed, perhaps for a time as many as two years.

Even if Scottie Barnes develops into a true franchise player and many have legitimate concerns, it is very unlikely that the necessary players and bench depth will be achieved.

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There will be a lot of emphasis on Immanuel Quickley's emergence as a point guard, but the truth is that he hasn't had the luxury of playing alongside Barnes for an extended period of time.

Kelly Olynyk has been given an expanded role, but on a team that is serious about making the playoffs, his ideal role is coming off the bench.

The same could be said about RJ Barrett.

There is no athletic size, no competent wing and so many questions as the franchise heads into another offseason with important decisions to be made.

Gary Trent Jr. has shown a lot, including Friday night's performance in Milwaukee, but there's no guarantee the unrestricted free agent will be back next season.

On a good team, his offense and three-point shooting ability make him ideal as part of a second unit.

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Rookie Gradey Dick is another player whose role is best reserved as a bench player.

Even if the Raptors are fully healthy with a few roster moves, the best they can expect is to be competing for a play-in spot next season.

Miami used the play-in route to advance to the NBA Finals last spring, but the Heat happen to have Jimmy Butler, who turns into playoff Jimmy when the stakes are highest.

There is no player like that on Toronto's roster, and no one expects a player like Butler to suddenly emerge any time soon.

As losses mount as blowouts over 40 points are given up at home, heads should be rolling within a month.

Unless something happens completely out of the blue, no one expects someone with a profile to be canceled.

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Injuries are a fact of life in the NBA and no coach will ever use injuries as an excuse.

Somehow, rookie head coach Darko Rajakovic has kept his wits about him through all this misery, which hit rock bottom last Wednesday night in Minneapolis when the Raptors lost by 48 points, the most lopsided loss in team history.

Three games earlier, the Raptors were beaten by the visiting New York Knicks by 44 points.

Toronto's reward for all these losses could be the draft lottery, but this year's class isn't exactly loaded with prospects for a franchise move.

As they prepare for the home finale and final four games of the season, the path to relevance isn't as clear.

An apology of some sort won't relieve fans of all the pressure they've been under, but it could go a long way toward regaining their trust.

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Ticket prices are not exactly being reduced, in fact they are increasing.

Memories of the Raptors' third season in the NBA were brought back, the year in which the Raptors lost a franchise-record 17 games in a row.

This year's edition, as flawed and exhausted as it was and still is to some extent, escaped infamy by defeating a cheating Bucks team in Milwaukee.

At that time, the Raptors were undergoing profound changes, from ownership to management to the coaching staff and roster, as the face of the club, Damon Stoudamire, wanted out and was traded to his hometown of Portland.

Butch Carter was named head coach and would soon bring about a transformation and rebirth by getting the best out of Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter.

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Glen Grunwald was promoted to GM.

In the final game of the season at Maple Leaf Gardens against Allen Iverson and the Sixers, many Raptors players were literally and metaphorically at full throttle.

Toronto would lose its 66th game of the season.

A courageous Grunwald addressed the unruly gathering of those present, who were right to vent their anger.

Grunwald accepted the boos.

“I understand your feelings,” Grunwald said, as the booing only got worse. “You have my commitment and the commitment of our owners to do everything we can to get this situation under control.”

We're guessing Tuesday's home final won't have quite the same repercussions as the fateful night of April 18, 1998.

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We assume that there will be no boos on top of that.

Before their recent run to reach the playoffs, Leafs president Brendan Shanahan sent a letter to season ticket holders.

Toronto FC apologized to fans in a letter when there was no playoff participation yet.

Even MLSE lighthouse Larry Tanenbaum signed his name to the end of a letter sent in the spring of 2012, when the Leafs missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season.

“We are disappointed with the results this season,” the letter said. “We fell short of everyone’s expectations and we are sorry for that. . . We take full responsibility for this team's performance on the ice and make no excuses.

“The way the year ended was unacceptable. Results are the only measure of success in sport and the results speak for themselves.”

Or as the great coaching scholar Bill Parcells once said, “You are what your record says.”

The Raptors enter Tuesday's game with a 25-53 record, having dressed more players than they have won.

Only once has the team won three games in a row

It was a terrible season full of nights of unremarkable basketball.

A simple apology is the least the Raptors should do.

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