The best season in Toronto Raptors franchise history came to a close on Friday night as the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 113-87 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
With the win, the Cavs earn their second straight NBA Finals appearance, while LeBron James punches his ticket to the last series of the season for the sixth consecutive year. James led the way for Cleveland, scoring 33 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and adding six assists to ensure his club would get a couple days rest waiting for things to end in the Western Conference. Kyrie Irving added 30 points and Kevin Love posted a 20 and 12 double-double as Cleveland’s “Big Three” combined for 83 points, just four fewer than the Raptors managed as a team.
Kyle Lowry shouldered the load for the Raptors, scoring 35 points in 42 minutes with DeMar DeRozan adding 20 alongside his backcourt mate. Unfortunately for Toronto, Lowry and DeRozan were the only two that managed to reach double-figures in scoring, as Patrick Patterson and DeMarre Carroll shot a combined 6-for-18 from the floor.
Despite coming up short in the final game of the season and having it end on their home court, the 2015-16 season has been an undeniable success, as the team won 56 games in the regular season to earn the No. 2 seed in the East, plus 10 more in the playoffs, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time. Friday was bitter pill to swallow, but once that taste fades, the only way to look at this season is as a massive step forward for the organization.
While there are some serious questions that have to be answered in the offseason – primarily whether or not to sign DeMar DeRozan to a max contract – the future looks bright for this franchise.
Lowry is a perennial All-Star coming off a career year and an All-NBA selection. Jonas Valanciunas is still just 23 and showed further signs of development. Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross, Norman Powell and Delon Wright are all south of 25 as well, as are Bruno Caboclo and Bebe Nogueira. On top of that, they hold the ninth pick in this year’s draft, plus their own first-round selection as well.
And reaching this point in the playoffs served as a tremendous advertisement for the organization, the city and the fans, all of who received praise from James with ESPN’s Doris Burke immediately following the game.
This was a season to be proud of and a year to build from next season.
After entering the season needing to prove they could win a playoff series, the Raptors won two and earned two victories in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s been a momentum campaign for Canada’s NBA representatives and it should only get better next year.
