The longest season in Toronto Raptors history came to a tough end with a 92-87 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday night, a defeat that will sting even more given the Raptors’ 18 turnovers leading to 31 Celtics points.
But Toronto didn’t go down without a fight, and much of the feeling around the sports world is that the Raptors should exit the NBA bubble with their heads held high despite a difficult defeat to close out the 2019-20 campaign.
We’ve rounded up some takes to give you a taste of how things look south of the border. Here’s a closer look at what both national U.S. media members and Celtics beat reporters are saying about the Raptors today.
Raptors earn admiration at the end of longest, most disrespected title defense – The Athletic
After a season in which the Raptors proved the doubters wrong by putting together a strong title defence without Kawhi Leonard, The Athletic‘s Michael Lee explores how Toronto used that disrespect as fuel for another great, although ultimately disappointing, campaign.
Of all the positives that came from the resumption of the season in Orlando, the Raptors’ ability to rightfully defend what they fought so hard to claim ranks near the top. It would have been a shame if Kyle Lowry hadn’t been given the chance to reassert himself as the impactful little irritant who could will his team to unlikely victories, if Fred VanVleet hadn’t been allowed to boost his value in the free-agent market with some 3-point barrages, or if Pascal Siakam didn’t learn that the higher you get, the harder it gets.
The Raptors turned the disrespect from Leonard’s departure into a defiant celebration, an if-you-don’t-know-now-you-know recognition of their talent and character. What made these Raptors special is that while they might accept the applause for exceeding outside expectations, they weren’t satisfied in coming up short of the ultimate prize.
Inside the final night of the Raptors’ championship reign – Yahoo Sports
Chris Haynes’ breakdown of the Raptors’ final game of the 2019-20 season focuses mainly on the growth of Kyle Lowry, from his past playoff disappointments in Toronto to the league-wide praise the 34-year-old garnered for his clutch performances against the Celtics in the bubble.
The young Celtics are in pursuit of consistency deep into the postseason and beating the Raptors is a significant accomplishment. Lowry, one of the shortest players on the court, gave the Celtics all they could handle. The praise and adoration he’s receiving at this stage of his career is warranted.
Lowry’s goal of defending Toronto’s title has evaporated, but he proved to the world that he’s a bona fide star and there are more battles to win.
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Little moments of relentlessness secure a defining Celtics victory – Boston Globe
While the Raptors leave the NBA bubble, the Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference Final “a more polished, experienced, and grittier team than they were two weeks ago,” according to the Boston Globe‘s Gary Washburn, who writes the team learned an important lesson from this seven-game series against Toronto.
They ground out a game that was never going to be pretty. It would have been too easy for this team to hit early shots, build a big lead, and then coast. Just like the series, the Celtics controlled most of the game, and then watched as the relentless Raptors kept charging and charging.
The Celtics didn’t score a field goal for the final 5:21. They scored only 5 more points, but bested the Raptors with defense and those grimy plays that win big games. Boston learned a lesson from this series. They learned that the Raptors weren’t defending champions because they were more talented than their opponents. They were successful because they were relentless.
The Celtics Advance to the Eastern Conference Finals – NBA on TNT
The NBA on TNT crew weighed in on the end of the Raptors’ season during Friday night’s post-game coverage, discussing what’s next for Toronto and the struggles of Pascal Siakam in the series.
Here’s Shaquille O’Neal on Siakam:
“Not a lot of people expected them to go this far. They played very well, but, you know, the questions are, ‘What do we do now?’ … Being a great player is a mindset, because when you’re the best player on the team, they hand it over to you. So if you’re the best player on the team and you believe you’re the best, you have to have that mindset, and I don’t think he had the mindset the whole series. Still a hell of a player, still deserves all the accolades, but if they’re going to put all the onus on him, he has to have that mindset. For example, Fred VanVleet took more shots than he did. When you’re the No. 1 option on the team, nobody’s supposed to take more shots than you.”
If there is a podcasting odd couple, this might be it. Donnovan Bennett and JD Bunkis don’t agree on much, but you’ll agree this is the best Toronto Raptors podcast going.
Marcus Smart’s clutch block helps Boston Celtics eliminate Toronto Raptors – ESPN
While Toronto’s 18 turnovers and Jayson Tatum’s 28-point performance were both big factors in the Game 7 result, it was Marcus Smart’s last-minute block on Norman Powell that will be looked back on as the game’s most important play. Tim Bontemps dives deeper into that play, Smart’s impact on the series as a whole and Toronto’s never-say-die attitude toward the conference semifinal.
Smart played a huge role in the struggles of Raptors star Pascal Siakam in the series. He made multiple stops on Powell in the fourth quarter before his highlight block. And, if it wasn’t for Toronto’s late comeback in Game 6, Smart’s first playoff triple-double in that game would’ve been the thing that carried Boston into the East finals against the Miami Heat a game sooner.
Still, the Celtics will simply be glad to be getting there at all, after surviving this slugfest of a series against the Raptors, who gave Boston absolutely everything it could handle despite being outplayed for the vast majority of the series by the team’s own admission.
Kendrick Perkins Watch
It wouldn’t be a Rival Watch without Kendrick Perkins, who echoes the sentiments of most Raptors fans in the wake of another impressive season.
Hats off to Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors for having a hell of a season!!!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) September 12, 2020
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiUWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9uYmEvYXJ0aWNsZS9yaXZhbC13YXRjaC11LXMtbWVkaWEtc2F5aW5nLXJhcHRvcnMtZ2FtZS03L9IBWGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9uYmEvYXJ0aWNsZS9yaXZhbC13YXRjaC11LXMtbWVkaWEtc2F5aW5nLXJhcHRvcnMtZ2FtZS03L3NuLWFtcC8?oc=5
2020-09-12 19:22:00Z
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