The Toronto Raptors had just won their first playoff series in franchise history. The fifth seed Raptors, led by Vince Carter, upset the New York Knicks in a winner-take-all game five in The Garden. The franchise was on top of the world.
The celebration didn’t last long. It couldn’t. Next up were the Philadelphia 76ers led by the leagues Most Valuable Player, Allen Iverson. (He was voted MVP, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me that any version of AI was better than 2000-2001 Shaq).
Toronto took control of game one.