Raptors keep heads held high despite falling just short of NBA Finals goal
TORONTO – The most successful season in Toronto Raptors franchise history finally ended its run.
A record 56-win regular season, followed by the deepest playoff run in team history, was brought to a halt with a 113-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors had won convincingly in both previous home games and wanted to recreate that magic to force a Game 7 in Cleveland. All-Star guards Kyle Lowry (35 points) and DeMar DeRozan (20 points) did their best to make that happen, but with no other double-figure scorers, Toronto didn't have the additional firepower.
"Give (the Cavaliers) all the credit, they beat us fair and square," Lowry said. "Their guys played well, and they're a talented group. They have a chance to win an NBA championship, and that's where we want to be. This series was fun to be a part of, but it just shows how much harder it is to get to that point."
The 26-point loss was a bitter end after a 2-2 deadlock in the series sparked realistic discussion about the Raptors being part of the NBA Finals. For that reason alone, Toronto’s postseason effort can't be called a failure or a disappointment, mainly because, to most people, the team has been on borrowed time for several weeks.
After back-to-back first-round playoff eliminations to lower-seeded teams the past two years, as well as 15 straight seasons without a playoff series win, there were questions about what the Raptors were capable of accomplishing this year.
Despite injuries to Lowry, DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, and Jonas Valanciunas throughout the playoffs, the Raptors continued to overcome obstacles until running into one too great. They earned consecutive Game 7 victories against the Indiana Pacers, then the Miami Heat in the first and second rounds, showing their perseverance.
Playing every other day since April 29 was an obstacle as the series with the Cavaliers wore on. That eventually caught up, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, because the team simply could not hang with the sharpshooting Cavaliers.
"I'm so proud of our guys to go through what they've been through," Casey said. "A day off in between (games), they fought through it. … I did think mental fatigue set in, which is not an excuse this time of year, but we put ourselves in position with two hard-fought seven-games series, which I know we learned from."
The Raptors broke many team records and have positive elements to take away from the season. Coach Casey recognized as much, but said there's no reason to be content.
"I really think we're a step ahead in the process," Casey said. "The players worked and put themselves in this process. We're still a relatively young team to talk about competing for a championship, but they put themselves in that position with hard work, fighting through things this season.
"We still have a ways to go, and I've said this whole time, that next step is probably the biggest step we have to take as an organization and as individuals. Myself included, the coaching staff, each player. It's not going to be easy. We were one of four teams left. We should be proud of that, but not satisfied."