MIAMI — You just hope it’s framed and hung prominently somewhere.
The most famous university degree in Toronto Raptors history is 15 years old. The guy who earned it hasn’t used it yet. Soon to be 40, Vince Carter has a year remaining on what will be his last NBA contract.
A teenaged Kyle Lowry was cheering for Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers the last time the Toronto Raptors had a chance – their only chance, until now – to advance past the second round of the NBA playoffs. Lives have been lived since Carter famously attended his graduation ceremony the morning of Game 7 in the second round of the 2001 playoffs.
Oh my God that was a long time ago.
As far as we know there are no current members of the Toronto Raptors who will be going to their graduation ceremonies any time soon, specifically Sunday morning.
But to a man they have one more chance to make it to the Eastern Conference final, a journey no group of Raptors has ever made. Of course it will require a seventh game – in this case on a Sunday afternoon in Toronto rather than in Philadelphia, against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat rather than those Iverson-led 76ers.
Of course the Raptors, if they do it, will do it in the hardest, most gut-twisting way possible. And of course they will leave the door very much open to one more signature disappointment, one more opportunity dropped and shattered.
Sort of like Game 6 at American Airlines Arena.
“We came here to try and win the game,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “We didn’t come here to try and win the game. We didn’t have a seven-game series in mind … We didn’t want a Game 7.”
Now they have one — a chance to exorcise old dates that seems nearly scripted.
“We played all year to become the two-seed in the East and get home court,” said Raptors guard Kyle Lowry. ” This is going to be fun. It’s Game 7, two versus three and a good opportunity to play on one of the biggest stages there is. Just go out there and hoop.”
That’s the glass half full version. The other way to look at it is for the third time in franchise history the Raptors lost an elimination game on the road, this time 103-91 to the Heat in another strange game in a strange series, although this one was the first that didn’t come down to a final possession. The Heat opened up a nine-point lead at half, took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, were leading by 10 with six minutes left and led by 10 with three minutes left, too.
The game never really got away from the Raptors but they never threatened to reel it in either.
“Just one of those games we were in,” said DeMarre Carroll, who played after having to leave Game 5 with an injured left wrist. “We just didn’t play well. Myself, I couldn’t find a rhythm really. Missed easy ones. Defensively, they were getting into the paint, they were playing up-tempo, playing early offence, getting rebounds and pushing at us, having us on our heels. They busted open the lead and we weren’t able to get a run or anything.”
For the first time in the series the Raptors got two statistically strong performances from their big guns – Kyle Lowry had 36 points while DeMar DeRozan had 23. But on this night the balance seemed to be tipped too far as no other Raptor scored in double figures and Toronto totalled only 10 assists as a team, five by Lowry and DeRozan combined. No other player was in double digits in scoring or shots taken.
The Heat started and played almost exclusively with a small lineup featuring 6-foot-7 rookie swingman Justise Winslow as the putative centre. With each team having lost their starting centres – Hassan Whiteside (knee) is out for Game 7 as is the Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) – unconventional rotations are now the norm.
The Raptors stayed big, for the most part, playing Bismack Biyombo and Patrick Patterson up front. But the Heat dictated the course of play. In particular Goran Dragic (30 points, 19 in the first half) seemed to generate anything he wanted simply by pushing the ball with pace at the Raptors before they could set up.
Meanwhile the Raptors weren’t able to gain a corresponding advantage on the glass. They out-rebounded Miami 43-41 overall and just 8-7 on the offensive glass.
“They did a good job of boxing us out,” said Casey. “We stayed big and that should have been to our advantage. We did not do a good job of boxing to the offensive boards.”
Before the game the question was whether the Raptors take the opportunity to end the series in six and avoid the heart-attack inspiring crapshoot that a seventh game presents. Against Indiana in Game 6 of the first round they said they would, having learned about the finality of a Game 7 when they lost at home against Brooklyn two years ago. And then they went to Indiana and everyone knew they were headed home for a seventh game at halftime. It wasn’t pretty.
The Raptors swore they’ve learned.
But maybe not.
“We have to be aggressive,” said Carroll. “Coming into their environment, you have to be the aggressive team and we were not tonight.”
But all of that aside the Raptors remain in control of their own destiny, hosting their third Game 7 at home in the past three seasons.
If they pull it off it won’t mean an NBA championship and it won’t mean a trip to the NBA Finals, unless LeBron James decides to start graduate school.
In all likelihood the best season in franchise history will come to a screeching halt after four or five games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the 2015-16 Raptors have officially completed the greatest season in franchise history.
Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from this post-season – already the longest in franchise history, in terms of games played – is that it’s difficult to skip steps.
The Heat are NBA royalty, a picture of stability and success. Wade has made the playoffs in 11 of his 13 years and won three titles.
The Raptors have a ways to go and getting to the Eastern Conference final would be a nice building block.
They get a chance again on Sunday, at home, in another Game 7.
Fifteen years later, school is once again in session.
