The second Toronto Raptors game I ever covered was in Detroit at the old Palace of Auburn Hills, a madhouse, the deciding Game 5 of the first round in 2002. Toronto was down three, but Toronto’s Chris Childs forgot the score. He thought it was four. His hurried, off-balance three-pointer missed, and Keon Clark smoked a cigarette in the shower. You couldn’t forget it. It was the night Childs lost his place in the plot, and for a long time the Raptors never seemed to truly find it.
Until now. Stay in the moment: That was what Kawhi Leonard preached every step along the way as the Raptors marched to the precipice of a title, no matter the situation.