Tonight was an opportunity for the Raptors to erase the shortcomings of the past month. With a win in Boston, the Raptors would have moved back in to second in the East, and clinched the ever-important season-series tiebreaker.
Instead, Raptors fans are stuck looking up at a 1.5 game deficit in the standings, and dealing with that residual stomach pit that only a close loss can leave behind.
The evening had joyous potential early. Fighting through an infuriatingly stingy whistle against both teams, the Raptors found success in the first half via some unlikely contributions.