WASHINGTON, D.C.—One day, maybe, it will be easy. Wait, we said this last year, too. Last year the Toronto Raptors had a closeout Game 6 in Milwaukee, and we asked them what it would mean to finally end a series before the knife’s edge of Game 7, and then the Raptors did it. That was meaningful, right? A big step.
They then got swept by Cleveland, of course, and what that Game 6 was not, of course, was easy. The Raptors built a 25-point lead and then gave every bit of it back in an incredible display collapsing confidence, only to wrestle a victory out against a team which quite helpfully missed 10 free throws.