What just one year ago seemed like a pipe dream was made into reality last night in Oakland.
The Toronto Raptors, maligned in recent years for their choke jobs in the playoffs after stellar regular seasons, finally slayed the dragon last night and won their first ever NBA championship. Fending off the home team late - who were playing an emotionally charged game after Kevin Durant's Game 5 injury and playing for the last time at Oracle Arena - the Raptors spoiled the party with a 114-110 victory.
They very well may have the best player in the NBA - at least at the moment - and Masai Ujiri seems like a genius for last summer's trade. The July 2018 trade that many fans disapproved of had the ultimate payoff. Kawhi Leonard, who was named Finals MVP, averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game on 43% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc. For the playoffs, Leonard averaged 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.7 steals on 49% from the field, 88% from the line, and 38% from three point range. He established himself as the most dominant player in the post season, taking down the likes of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Warriors. Though he didn't do it alone, especially last night.
Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam were great in the clinching game - Lowry finishing with 26 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. Siakam finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Leonard scored 22 points, adding 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and Fred VanVleet added 22 off the bench on 6 for 14.
The series was incredible vindication for the Raptors, as they not only erased past struggles, but also erased past reputations. Lowry, criticized for his past playoff performances, came up big when it mattered most, with a great Game 6. He hit big shots, and played tough defense. Fred VanVleet, who some thought should have been benched early in the playoffs, also hit ig shots - especially last night when they needed them most, and played great defense.
It was also vindication for their head coach.
When Dwane Casey, the reigning NBA coach of the year, was fired last summer, and replaced by Nick Nurse, the move was mystifying to many. Despite the post season struggles, Casey was great in the regular season and was proven. Nurse was a career assistant who nobody knew. A Carroll, Iowa native, Nurse had worked for 24 years coming up the ranks before he got his break in 2013, becoming an assistant with the Raptors. He had coached from his home state of Iowa, to England to Texas. His defensive adjustments against the Milwaukee Bucks were a catalyst for their coming back from an 0-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals. And his box and 1 defense in the Finals worked in flustering the Warriors at times.
But perhaps the most vindication comes for Raptor President Masai Ujiri. He was questioned for the Casey firing - and Nurse hiring - and blasted for trading Demar Derozan, a beloved franchise leader and player, for Leonard, whose health was uncertain coming into the season. He also swung a huge trade deadline deal for Marc Gasol, a veteran former All-Star and defensive player of the year who gave the Raptors the defensive anchor it needed in the middle.
With all those moves, it was clear the Raptors were a different team. Leonard missed 22 games during the regular season, and the team won 17 of those 22. They had the second best record in the NBA, and won 4 straight against the team, Milwaukee, with the best record. And then came the ultimate task, stopping the juggernaut Warriors. Granted, the Warriors weren't fully healthy, but the Raptors still did it facing tall odds coming into the history.
History for an entire country, and a past reputation extinguished.
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