TORONTO – It’s probably not fair to label something the ‘best part.’ The best part of Christmas is different for everyone. For some it’s gifts, for others it’s the meal, for others it’s simply celebrating together.
Same with any other shared occasion, any other moment that makes everyone pause, that creates a little shared space in a busy, crowded world. Those moments, rare as they are, always mean something a little different to everyone, even if they are communal at their core.
So try this: One of the best parts about the best day in Toronto Raptors history (of this, there is no argument) came with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Kyle Lowry nearly dribbles out the clock, worming around defenders, before missing a three. He doesn’t pause and instead steals the inbound pass, flips it to his buddy DeMar DeRozan who knocks in a jumper. The Air Canada Centre crowd, already wild, already electrified, goes more bananas. The Raptors are up by 22. Next possession Lowy steps into a triple and the Raptors are up 25.
The Raptors have broken their share of hearts over their twisty, turny 21 years, but a 25-point lead with just over three minutes to play?
That’s safe. That’s unassailable. That’s the difference between dancing delicately on the edge of a cliff to having a full out bash, with a sound system, food, booze and every old friend you ever wanted to party with.
That may or not have been the best part of the best day in Raptors history, but it was one of them, for sure.
"You could enjoy it," said DeMar DeRozan, who came to Toronto as a soft-spoken rookie just trying to survive in the NBA and now seven years later is arguably the most accomplished and decorated player in franchise history. "You didn’t have to be stressed out, so everybody could soak it in and really realize that ‘Wow, this is real.’"
It is real. The Toronto Raptors have advanced out of the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history, thanks to their 116-89 Game 7 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday. No more is the greatest moment in franchise history Vince Carter returning from his graduation ceremony at the University of North Carolina and missing a potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2001, 15 years ago.
That’s the past. The greatest moment is now.
In the middle of the series when Jonas Valanciunas had just been lost to an ankle injury and everything seemed in flux, Lowry was asked what his team might be like if he and DeRozan could ever play in the playoffs like they did throughout the regular season as the best backcourt in the Eastern Conference, instead of like the basket was moving as had been the case for most of the post-season.
"I think we’d have an opportunity to do something special," he said. "We’re not playing well and I think we still have an opportunity to do something special. And that’s the scary thing."
What was special, he was asked.
"Finals," he said.
The NBA Finals? Well, that seems a little hard to imagine, but the dream remains alive – which is the point, this time of year – and should be savoured.
In the meantime Lowry, DeRozan, the Raptors and every hardscrabble Raptors fan who dared to believe for the past 21 years are on a ride that’s not over yet.
The Raptors’ all-stars played like all-stars and it was scary for the Heat. The pair combined for 63 points and nearly as many defining plays. Lowry was at his best, finishing with 35 points on 20 shots, adding nine assists and grabbing seven rebounds. DeRozan was determined to force his will on the game. He shot 11 times in the first quarter – echoes of him ‘emptying the clip’ with 32 shots in Game 7 against Indiana in the first round – but was more controlled, more determined to find his spots on his way to 28 points and eight rebounds. They were inspired by all kinds of contributions, big and small, from the rest of head coach Dwane Casey’s decidedly shrunken rotation and the outcome is something that is hard to type if you’ve been around this franchise long enough:
The Toronto Raptors are in the Eastern Conference Final. They will play LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night in Cleveland, which will present another level of problems, but good problems to have.
But until then? For 20,000 at the ACC and hundreds more in the freezing rain outside and a million plus watching at home?
Sunday afternoon was a celebration 21 years in the making and one all the deeper and richer, because it never – not even once – seemed like something that came with a guarantee.
But with four minutes left, Raptors Nation, who have survived many cruel and indifferent regimes, allowed themselves to revel in the coming of their basketball spring.
And it was loud.
The camera phones came out en masse, a moment to be remembered. The building shook.
The ACC has a well-earned reputation as one of the loudest, most engaged buildings in the NBA. There only a few others like it. DeRozan has been here for the entire Jurassic Park era. But Sunday?
Sunday was different. The crowd wasn’t cheering. They were emoting.
"It was more so the understanding of the moment," said DeRozan. "It’s Game 7 and it’s to go to the Eastern Conference Final, you can see it in the fans’ faces. You feel the appreciation they get from just watching, it was a cool thing just to witness that and hear the crowd, being part of it."
The built up tension was reflected in the product early on.
The game started of as scrambly and scrappy as might be expected between two teams that had played six highly competitive, though rarely attractive contests so far. The game wasn’t five minutes old before Lowry found himself on the floor, under a pile, wrestling for a fumb, er, loose ball. Patrick Patterson and Lowry muscled themselves into the paint for offensive rebounds but each of them were quickly fouled for their trouble. Neither team could hit a three, despite some comfortable looks, perhaps because neither team looked comfortable.
But early on the Raptors had answered the fundamental question, simply, would they come to play with so much at stake, or would they weaken in the moment?
Not on Sunday, not even close.
"I thought the effort, the intensity, and the focus was what we wanted on both ends of the floor," said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. "I thought we started off shaky, defensively, but I thought as the game went on we got locked in, tied in and did a much better job of guarding the basketball."
The Raptors played their way. The Heat stayed with a small lineup – like the Raptors they are missing their starting centre – and the Raptors punished them for it, winning the rebounding battle 50-30 and getting to the line 43 times to 25 for Miami. They had owned the offensive glass 20-7.
"My goal was to get 10 offensive rebounds," said Bismack Biyombo, who finished with six offensive rebounds and 16 overall, to go along with 17 points. "I was close, but I think I can always do a better job. But it’s about the team and as a team I thought we did a great job, we played together defensively, offensively and we were able to come up with the win. Now it’s get prepared for Cleveland. We have a big fight ahead of us and we have to get it done."
In contrast to Game 6 when the supporting cast seemed content to watch the all-stars carry the load – out of character for a team that has been improved because it has more players that can do more things than in the past – in Game 7 there was something from everyone.
As an example, with the Raptors building a run early in the third quarter, Biyombo switched on to three different Heat perimeter players, with each of them giving up the ball in his presence and then when the shot went up, Biyombo required two Heat players to battle him in the paint. The effort allowed DeMarre Carroll to come up with the rebound on a missed Joe Johnson three and outlet to a streaking Lowry for a fastbreak layup. A moment later it was a dunk from Biyombo as Lowry found him slicing to the rim and then a block on Johnson that led to a transition triple by Carroll. Biyombo did miss four free throws in there, but it hardly mattered.
The crowd responded to Biyombo’s energy, and Biyombo responded right back – finger wagging on blocks, imitating Usain Bolt’s lightning pose on dunks.
"It was awesome, I loved it, I had fun, I enjoyed it," said Biyombo. "It was just great, the ambience, play after play they were supportive. I’m glad we got to do it for them."
But they were led by DeRozan and Lowry. The pair combined for 23 points in the third quarter, as the Raptors took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter before Toronto blew it open.
Whenever the Heat pushed, they pushed back; eventually the Heat gave in.
"The better team won today," said Heat star Dwyane Wade, held to 16 points. "We don’t make excuses … I thought it was a great series, but today Toronto was the better team for the majority of the game."
The result was a moment to be remembered, to pause and enjoy. That’s what Lowry did at the end of the game, the crowd going crazy. He took a seat on the bench and soaked it in.
What was he thinking?
"Just the things we’ve been through this year and how hard we worked," he said. "This is kind of an emotional time [and] to be able to sit there and relax and breathe and not go into overtime, playing against a team like Miami [that] pushed us to the limit, it was just a time relax and think about the things we’ve done and that we have to continue to do."
The moment meant different things to everyone, and was celebrated different ways. But for the Raptors and their fans it was a moment 21 years in the making and the best one yet.