There’s a sound in basketball that’s reserved for the very best players, or the best teams, or in some rare cases, all the best players on the best team. It’s a combination of the crowd gasping in fear, excitement and appreciation, that moment where an opponent wins over the crowd’s tribal affiliation and forces a sort of delighted surrender.
For that, though, it helps if your team to be in the game, too, because otherwise a crowd eventually just sits in mute amazement, like they’re outside their city and watching it burn. Over the last three years, the Raptors have played the Golden State Warriors pretty well, without beating them.