For this generation of the Toronto Raptors, the end of the story inevitably arrives at LeBron James.
You could sense the fanbase grasping at tendrils of hope after the two games in Toronto, games where the Raptors looked thoroughly inept in their strategy for guarding the best basketball player on Earth. LeBron dropped 40-plus in both games north of the border, sneering in the face of a number-one seed who had no answers. Straight up defence? Meet this fadeaway. Help? Ah, I seem to have found Kyle Korver in the corner.
In Game 1, the Raptors floundered late and missed too many shots.