The pattern has become familiar. Lose Game 1 at home. Lose Game 6 after going up 3-2 in a series. Win Game 7 on home court.
For a team that had never won a Game 7, the Toronto Raptors have followed this pattern all the way to the Eastern Conference final. The Raptors beat the Miami Heat in 7 games to advance to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference final that starts tonight.
The offense has struggled but with great defense and some ugly wins, the Raptors have advanced farther than any team in franchise history.
Kyle Lowry led the way in Game 7 with 35 points and DeMar DeRozan added 28 points in the 116-89 win. Bismack Biyombo added 17 points and 16 rebounds as a fine replacement for center Jonas Valanciunas, who sprained his right ankle in Game 3 against Miami. Valanciunas is out for Game 1 and likely won't play in Game 2.
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Home court has been huge for the Raptors in the playoffs. The team is 6-2 at Air Canada Centre. If you throw out Game 1 in both series, Toronto is 6-0 at home.
The visual image and energy from Jurassic Park has been electric. ABC put Doris Burke in the middle of that crowd before Game 7. This Toronto run is driving home the point that the city is a basketball town. Then again, Toronto became a "baseball town" last fall. Both are a bunch of malarkey. Toronto loves baseball and basketball, but like all cities, they love them more when they win.
Canada's largest city is in a sports comeback. Toronto FC made the playoffs for the first time ever. The Blue Jays and Raptors successes speak volumes. And the Maple Leafs have nowhere to go but up with the #1 draft pick.
| (1) Cleveland vs. (2) Toronto Series tied at 0 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Location | Time | U.S. TV | Canadian TV | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 17 | at Cleveland | 8:30p | ESPN | Rogers Sportsnet | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 19 | at Cleveland | 8:30p | ESPN | TSN | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 21 | at Toronto | 8:30p | ESPN | Rogers Sportsnet | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 23 | at Toronto | 8:30p | ESPN | TSN | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 25 | at Cleveland+ | 8:30p | ESPN | Rogers Sportsnet | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 27 | at Toronto+ | 8:30p | ESPN | TSN | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 29 | at Cleveland+ | 8:30p | ESPN | Rogers Sportsnet | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| All times Eastern. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Cleveland Cavaliers haven't played since May 8. The Raptors have played 14 playoff games this year; the Cavs have only played 8 games with 0 losses.
LeBron James, yeah, he's really good. The Cavs have made the NBA finals twice: 2007 and 2015, both with James. He has played in 5 straight NBA finals, the first player to do so in about 5 decades.
Cleveland also has home-court advantage, finishing the regular season a game ahead of the Raptors. Toronto went 2-1 against Cleveland in the regular season.
Tristan Thompson is a Canadian player on the Cavs. Cleveland traded 2 Canadian players on August 23, 2014, dealing Anthony Bennett and teammate Andrew Wiggins were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ironically, Bennett, who was the overall #1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft, played sparingly for the Raptors this season but was ultimately waived.
Toronto fans chanted "We Want Cleveland!" in the final seconds. That starts tonight.
The Miami Heat had some injury problems. Cleveland is in good shape and well-rested. An impossible challenge for Toronto? Bodog has the Raptors at 33:1 to win the NBA championship; Cleveland has 9:4 odds to win it all. Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, "Never say never."
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ABC rarely carries the Toronto Raptors. The last game on the over-the-air network was Game 7 against Brooklyn in the 2014 NBA playoffs. Sunday went much better for Toronto than that day in 2014. All the Eastern Conference final games will be on cable; the NBA finals is a very different story.
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TSN and Rogers Sportsnet will split the games once again with a more obvious pattern of every other game. Once again, the Canadian broadcasts will be local instead of using a U.S. feed.
ESPN will carry the Eastern Conference final in its entirety with no hope from ABC. The #1 crew will broadcast the series: Mike Breen along with analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson and reporter Doris Burke.
ESPN will also be on site in Toronto with SportsCenter for the Raptors home games at the Air Canada Centre. Look for a few shots of Jurassic Park.
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photos credit: NBA on ESPN/ABC
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