It wasn’t pretty by any means. The Toronto Raptors led by 16 points, yet almost blew the franchise defining game 7. They were the 2nd seed, and got pushed to the absolute brink by Paul George and the Indiana Pacers. It felt like another nightmare playoff run – a significantly worse team outplaying the Raptors, primed to pull off the upset. No team has ever lost 3 straight first round matchups with homecourt – this simply couldn’t happen, right?
After Monta Ellis hit a 3 to shrink the lead to 3 points with over 2 and a half minutes to go, I thought the Raptors were done. It really didn’t seem like fate was on the Raptors’ side. And yet, game 7 saw our Raptors come out on top by a score of 89-84.
That was seriously the most #Raptors way to win a series.
— Raptors Cage (@RaptorsCage) May 2, 2016
It feels good though. The Raps finally did it. It shouldn’t have come to this point, because the Raptors were a significantly superior team to the Pacers, but who cares. Nothing else matters at this point, because the monkey is off. The Raptors are headed to the second round. It’s about damn time.
Masai Ujiri, yelling from outside the Raptors locker room: "There goes that monkey. There goes that monkey"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 2, 2016
This was absolutely a pivotal win for the franchise. It saved Dwane Casey, saved the core, saved MLSE’s season ticket sales, and most importantly, saved the franchise’s best season ever. I don’t see how anyone could justify keeping the same team and coach together after losing in the first round for 3 seasons straight. It’s possible that we would have seen the Raptors take a ‘step back’ for the future, and the years of success we witnessed would be for nothing. Seriously – how depressing would losing that series have been? I genuinely would have needed a long break from this team if they didn’t pull it out, and I’m sure many Raptors fans share that sentiment.
Now that the ‘monkey’ is gone, Raptors fans should expect the team to perform closer to how they did all season. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry no longer have the same pressure. Expect a much more loose, free flowing Raptors offense. It also helps that they aren’t going up against an elite defensive backcourt anymore. Things are certainly looking up for the Raptors, who really can hit the refresh button, and just compete as that 2nd seed which won 56 games.
I mean really, this team couldn’t have played much worse than they did in round 1. If it weren’t for Masai Ujiri bringing in proven playoff performers such as Cory Joseph and DeMarre Carroll, this likely would have been another loss because the two stars that drive this team’s success choked yet again. But it’s done – the team did it. Now, they can get back to playing the brand of basketball that made them so successful this season.
Really, I wasn’t sure where I was going with this post. All I know is that I am real happy right now. I’m sure the rest of the fanbase is as well, Drake included. The Raptors greatest season ever is still alive. What a huge win.
