Toronto Raptors

After becoming just the 14th team in NBA history to start a series down 0-3 and then push it to six games, the Toronto Raptors were blown out by the Philadelphia 76ers 70-36 in the second half of tonight's game.

Toronto has been eliminated from contention for the 2022 NBA championship and the Philadelphia 76ers will move on to face the Miami Heat in the second round.

With loss against the Chicago Bulls, the Toronto Raptors have been eliminated from playoffs contention for the 2023 NBA season

Fade 'em

Links

Score

• Toronto Raptors: 114

• Golden State Warriors: 110

Toronto Raptors

Golden State Warriors

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March is officially Women's History Month, and just like several other organizations, the Toronto Raptors decided to pay tribute to women across the world in a video posted to Twitter.

However, the clip was poorly received by many people, who found the contents of the video to be insensitive, and basically equated it to saying women "are only good for creating babies."

The Raptors posted the video to their social media on Wednesday with the caption, "Happy Women's Empowerment Month! It's important that we not only celebrate but empower women both on and off the court."

The video begins with the text, "Beyoncé said Girls Run The World, why do you think that's true?"

The Toronto Raptors have defeated the Golden State Warriors to win their first NBA title.

They defeat the Golden State Warriors 114-110.

Edits--- Oh wow, thanks a million for the golds kind strangers! I’m very flattered.

Man, thanks also for the silver! Much appreciated!

Links:

Tank mode started, spurs fans yall might not get a first round pick the next 2 years

We tanking viciously now

Thad young is our captain 🫡

Next 5 games are on road before trade deadline

This about to be crazy tank job to end the season

With the Pacers defeating the Cavaliers today, the Toronto Raptors have been eliminated from playoff/play-in contention.

If the Raptors win the rest of their games, they will finish 31-41. If the 10th seed Pacers lose the rest of their games, they will be 32-40. The Raptors are the 7th team to be eliminated from playoff contention and fully settled into the tank.

Box Score:

I think the Raptors had a really awesome championship run, especially their path to the Finals as it had so many ups and down. (I've edited this around and fixed the hyperlinks)

Orlando Magic

The Raptors had a very tough first round matchup in the East by going up against the Magic. The Magic were coming into the series as one of the hottest teams in the league and were great defensively. In game 1, the Raptors struggled and ended up losing on a buzzer beater to . This was just the start of adversity for the Raptors as it was a surprise for them to drop game 1. However, I feel that this was the best thing that could happen to the Raptors because it was the gut punch that woke the team up. The Raptors were able to take care of business and ended up winning 4 straight against the Magic. This was tied for the least amount of games to win a post season series in franchise history. Marc Gasol was incredible guarding Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic was a first-time all star having a great season, averaging 20.8 points and 12.0 rebounds on 51.8% shooting, 36.4% from 3. Vucevic ended the post season averaging 11.2 points and 8.0 rebounds on 36.2% shooting, 23.1% from 3.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Raptors again had a tough second round matchup in the East by going up against the Sixers. This was a rematch of a series that took place 18 years ago where Vince Carter missed a that could have taken the Raptors to the ECF. In game 1, the Raps pretty much had control of the game largely in part because , outscoring the 76ers starters 74-71. In game 2, Brett Brown made some great adjustments. He put Embiid on Pascal and had Simmons as Kawhi’s primary defender. Pascal did not have a very good game going 9-25 and Jimmy Butler had 30 points, which was a massive difference from the 10 points he scored in the first game. The Raptors had a poor shooting night going 10-37 from 3 and lost the game. Game 3 was an interesting game. The Sixers were playing well in the first half and Simmons which somehow went uncalled. After that, it felt like the Sixers had control of the game. Pascal was frustrated and tried to . The 76ers continued to make the lead even bigger and Embiid was . This triggered me a lot because Embiid was having a great game, but in the last 2 games he was shooting 7/25. The Raps ended up losing by 21 going down 2-1, where Chris Broussard called the . Game 4 was a very close, grind out game that Kawhi completely took over. He made this which put the Raps up by 4 and was basically the dagger. Kawhi finished with 39 points and 14 rebounds on 13/20 shooting. In game 5, all of the Raptors stepped up with 6 Raps in double figures and they blew out the Sixers by 36 points. It seemed like the Raps were going to win the series with all this momentum. Drake and the home crowd were even when Embiid got subbed out. However in game 6, the Raptors didn’t play with the same intensity and the Sixers were able to take the game with ease. The game wasn’t as close as the score suggested. Game 7 was a back and forth game until the very end. It ended with an epic . This was one of the greatest moments in Raptors history and was just the start of the history being made. Kawhi had a ridiculous series against the Sixers with averages of 34.7/9.9/4.0 on an efficient .540/.309/87.1. Kawhi probably had one of the greatest series and carry jobs ever. I believe that this series really wore down Kawhi because you could noticeably see him limping more in the following series. As well, like the Magic series, Marc Gasol was brilliant defensively again. In the first round, Embiid had a great series averaging 24.8 points and 13.5 rebounds on 51.1% shooting. Those numbers dropped down to 17.6 points and 8.7 rebounds on 36.3% shooting. Nick Nurse made a great adjustment at the end of the series by playing a big lineup of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Raptors were then going up against the Bucks who had the best record in the league with almost a week of rest and were . In game 1 through the first 3 quarters, the Raptors were in control of the game. However, the Raps had a really bad 4th quarter getting outscored 32-17, and lost the game where the Bucks shot 11/44 from 3. Unfortunately, the Raps wasted an incredible Lowry performance where he went for 30 points on 10/15 shooting with 7 3s. Brook Lopez did have a great game though with 29 points and 4 blocks. In game 2, the Bucks cruised through the game going on to win by 22 points. The Raps were down 0-2 which led to a lot of skepticism, such as . In the post game when asked about where the Raps go from here, Kawhi says . The thing I didn’t understand about this negativity was that the Bucks were able to protect homecourt and won both games as the home team, like they are supposed to do. Game 3 was a close game to the very end. Lowry fouled out in the 4th with around 6 minutes left and it was up to a struggling FVV to take over for him. Pascal was fouled with the Raps up 2 and . Middelton ends up making a layup and the game goes to OT. This game ends up going to 2OT where Pascal gets some redemption and makes 2 free throws which iced the game. Pascal as Kawhi played an hour of basketball. Game 4 the Raps got contribution from their bench which would be a trend for the rest of the playoffs. The Raptors bench outscored the Bucks 48-23 and the Raptors won by 18. In game 5, the Raptors were down 14 early, but were able to make a comeback. Kawhi had 14 points in the 4th and FVV recovered from his horrendous Magic and Sixers series in which he finished with 21 points and 7 3s. It became a series as the road team got their first win and this was the first time the bucks lost 3 games in a row this season. This is when Kawhi had responded to the question of “how do you beat the Bucks 4 times in a row,” with . In game 6, the Bucks had a good control of the game as they were up by 15 near the end of the 3rd. However, this did not stop the Raptors and they made a push to come back in the game. The Raps went on a 39-18 run in the final 14 minutes. Kawhi had this that was reminiscent of this . The Bucks were a good team but unfortunately Budenholzer did not make any major adjustments when the Raps utilized a 3-2 zone. This ultimately costed them the series and Giannis’s production was worse in this series than the last 2. Giannis even gave credit on the defense by . The Raptors advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Golden State Warriors

The Raptors then went up against the back-to-back champion Warriors. The Warriors had over a week of rest as they were able to sweep the Blazers, coming back from 3 straight 17 point leads. Like the Bucks, the Warriors were the favourites, but this time even . The return of Kevin Durant was a mystery. In game 1, the Raptors had control throughout the game. Marc Gasol probably had his best game as a Raptor, finishing with 20 points and Pascal had a playoff career high of 32 points. Game 2 was close at the half. Unfortunately, the inevitable 3rd quarter Warriors arrived and outscored the Raps 34-21. In the 4th Klay gets his and was out for the rest of the game. This led to the Raptors playing a and the game was close. However, this led to an Andre Igoudala and the Warriors get the win. This led to some Klay . As well, Kevon Looney gets and he is able to play through that excruciating pain for the rest of the series. He’s a warrior playing through fractured chest cartilage. In game 3, the Warriors were shorthanded as Klay didn’t play because the Warriors wanted to take precautions with his injury. The Raptors had control of this game throughout, although Steph had a playoff career high 47 points. Kyle Lowry also handled being by a Warriors part-owner very well. In game 4, Klay returned and the game was close at halftime. The Raps were able to outscore the Warriors 37-21 in the 3rd quarter and were able to win the game. FVV took this to the face in the 4th. Kawhi had a Finals career high of 36 points and Serge Ibaka chipped in with 20 points. This time the Warriors were on the other end of 3-1 lead. With all the mysteries surrounding KD’s impending return, he was back for game 5. Kevin Durant looked like his old self returning from injury, scoring a quick 11 points on 3/5 shooting and the Warriors looked like the team we thought at the beginning of the year was unbeatable. But he was playing heavy minutes at the start and unfortunately he ended up . It was not a good look for Raptors fans as they were cheering, for instance the and . The game was close until the very end and the Raps were actually were up 6 with 2 and a half minutes in the game. Unfortunately Nick Nurse called a momentum stopping timeout that led to a 9-2 run for the Warriors to end the game. The Raptors had a chance to win the game, but Draymond had an incredible on Lowry’s corner 3. In game 6, it was close throughout. Kyle Lowry started off hot with 11 points and vintage Game 6 Klay showed up again. Lowry had 21 points at the half and Klay had 18. It was a back and forth again and Klay was on fire still as he had 10 points in the 3rd. Unfortunately, he then but is able to heroically come back and sinks . Klay was having an insane game with 30 points on 8/12 shooting and 10/10 from the line. The game continued to be back and fourth and Fred VanVleet continued to be deadly with 12 4th quarter points. With the Raptors up 1 with around 11 seconds left, Danny Green gets a . The Warriors get the ball back and Draymond makes a great saving pass to Steph who misses the . Following the miss, Draymond Green does a and gets a technical which seals the game. The Raptors win the Championship for the first time in franchise history and did not blow a 3-1 lead. Kawhi wins . He had an incredible post season with averages of 30.5/9.1/3.9 on .490/.379/.884 shooting. He finished 3rd all time in points in a single post season with 732.

Conclusion

This was an incredible run the Raps made to get their first championship. It all began when Masai fired Casey and traded DeMar for Kawhi. There were so many uncertainties with this and we didn’t even know if Kawhi would commit and play in Toronto. Masai gambled again and traded for Marc Gasol by giving up depth and fan favourites JV, Delon and CJ. I honestly feel like if the Raptors ran it back again this year with the old Raptors, they probably wouldn’t have made it past the second round. I understand that Kawhi is better than DeMar and I don’t want to put DeMar down, but the veteran and playoff experiences from Kawhi, Danny and Marc were incredible in keeping the Raps together with the adversities they faced. Toronto had an elite defensive lineup that was very versatile.

I think it is unfair that people are making the Raps championship seem lesser than it is because the Warriors were injured. They had the toughest road to get to the Finals and injuries are a part of the game. A championship is a championship.

The largest margin of victory in NBA history is a 68, a 148-80 victory for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Miami Heat in 1991-1992