A thrilling playoff run may have ended with a deflating defeat, but it’s been a successful year for Toronto.
The Raptors certainly didn’t make it look easy this postseason. Both series against the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat went to Game 7 before the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers saw Toronto eliminated with a game to spare. It started out with a feeling of deja-vu as a Game 1 loss at home to Indiana brought back unwanted memories of the first round loss to the Washington Wizards the year prior. Fortunately, the franchise was determined not to see history repeat itself and they battled to a 4-3 series victory over a stubborn Pacers side to advance. Their luck wouldn’t change much in the next round however as they found themselves down 1-0 again, this time to the Heat. However, similar to the manner in which they eliminated Paul George and co., Toronto were able to bounce back from an opening game defeat and eventually win the match-up in a tense Game 7.
If there’s one thing we can take from the 2015-2016 Toronto Raptors, it’s that they have the mental strength needed to win in the NBA. The fans will have panicked after the first loss to Indiana but you can be sure that it will have affected the players much more. There have been enough doubts regarding the legitimacy of these Raptors, most notably their All-Star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, that another first-round exit would have been disastrous to their legacies. The backcourt may have been guilty of their fair share of inconsistent performances throughout the playoffs but as evidenced throughout the series with Cleveland, neither player was keen on going down without a fight. It’s this sort of bulldog mentality that helped push Toronto through the troubling times they encountered this year. Losing the opening game of the series to Miami after what happened in the previous round could easily have had a negative influence on the Raps, and most teams would have buckled under the pressure of yet again losing home court advantage at such an early stage. Fortunately, these Raptors aren’t like most teams.
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The regular season brought many more highs than lows for the organization. It’s not often that has been said about Toronto in the last few years, and the 2015-16 campaign was successful in elevating them to a new level. Up until this year, it seemed as if the Raptors were a treadmill playoff team, similar to the Atlanta Hawks or even the Philadelphia 76ers squad that Sam Hinkie completely tore down and rebuilt. A flashy, inconsistent basketball club who didn’t have th
e stars or talent necessary to make a run at the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Two playoff series wins which required as much toughness as they did skill has shown that the Raptors are here to stay as Championship contenders. They may have lost 4 games to Cleveland, with all losses eventually becoming blowout defeats, but make no mistake of the experience these players have gained as a result. Let’s also not ignore the fact that Toronto, despite being 2-0 down and counted out by the media and players alike, managed to turn these Eastern Conference Finals into a competitive series as they took two of their home games. To put their achievements into perspective, at one point they even had more of a chance to reach the Finals than the 73-win Golden State Warriors.
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The stench of defeat will take a while to wash away. No-one likes losing, especially when they’ve come so close to winning. The Raptors were only 6 wins away from basketball paradise, a feeling that the franchise had yet to experience before. That feat in itself is reason enough to celebrate this season. There’s even the argument that this is the year the Raptors finally placed Canada on the map with regards to basketball. Even amidst the celebrations of reaching his sixth NBA Finals in a row, LeBron James couldn’t help but acknowledge the Toronto faithful as they cheered their team off the court one last time.
“Unbelievable respect and much respect to these fans, to this country. This is unbelievable,” commented James as ESPN’s Doris Burke struggled to get her questions across due to the loudness of the fans around them, “I’ve never been a part of something like this in my 13-year career. This is special, and they really appreciate what their team did.”
They really do appreciate their team. Coming back from multiple setbacks is a challenge but it’s one which this group of players embraced.
The front office has a lot of work to do this off-season to ensure this franchise remains competitive for the future. Both DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo, the star of Toronto’s playoff run, are nearly certain to opt out of their contracts’ final year and become free agents. It should be an interesting summer for the Raptors but for now, let’s give them their dues for an incredible season.