The Toronto Raptors are doing something that has yet to be seen in basketball Canada. Winning back-to-back game seven’s is no easy feat in the playoffs, but walking into a series against LeBron James down two games to none, and having the guts and passion to tie it up, is a whole different story.
The narrative was, of course, Toronto would have zero chance against a team that had yet to lose in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference finals were foreign grounds for the Raptors. Everybody jumped on the Cleveland bandwagon, and I mean, everybody. Writers, television hosts, basketball fans, you name it. The media had written off the Raptors before the series even began. As they dropped the first two games in Cavaliers country, the disrespect for Toronto’s franchise was almost overwhelming. “The worst team in Eastern Conference finals history,” Stephen A. Smith exclaimed on his show, ESPN’s “First Take.”
But things change. In 96 minutes of basketball, an entire ideology towards the Raptors changed. No longer was Toronto the worst team in the playoffs, they belonged. Apologies from sports media rained down like something a fan has never seen or heard before. I don’t think there has been a time where sports media, as a collective unit, has ever been so wrong about a team in the post-season. But they were. “We the North” swept the nation. Toronto is now two wins away from being four away for an NBA championship. Despite being the number two seed, an NBA championship was never talked about north of the border. But here it is, a finals appearance is within grasp, and it started with two stars who turned this franchise around to be the juggernaut it is today.
‘We ride and die with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.’ The team has stuck with this mentality through their opening round shooting struggles, and are better off for it. In game three, they shot a collective 19 for 36, combining for 52 points. They excelled in the fourth game of the series, shooting 28 for 43 while combining for 67 points.
On the other side of the ball, the defence has always been there for the red and white. Throughout the post-season, they have continuously held high-scoring teams to under 100 points, and have been labelled as the best remaining team at defending their rim.
The thing about sports is, normal players can be born into all-stars out of necessity. This is what Bismack Biyombo has done for the Raptors. Since big-man Jonas Valanciunas went down, Biyombo has ran with his opportunity to be the number one guy inside the paint. His finger wag, Usain Bolt impression and flex celebration are now a staple of Raptors basketball. He has turned himself into a Toronto legacy in a couple of weeks. In game three, he broke a Raptors record with 26 rebounds and joined elite company by doing so. Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard are the only other players to accomplish this mark in NBA history.
It’s time to give Toronto credit where it is due. This team may not have the perennial all-stars like Cleveland, Golden State or Oklahoma City, but they have something that can’t be measured. You see it on the court. A family-type atmosphere within the locker room can go a long way. This team is for real. Canada has known it for a long time, the news is just starting to spread across the border.
