Back home in the 6ix as The Raptors face elimination one more time in these playoffs. Cavs took game 5 decisively. Let's look at what the Raptors need to do to stay alive
Jonas Valanciunas got some burn in the last game. Though he didn't start, he didn't look too out of step with the rest of his team. Not sure that his skillset is what is going to secure a win against Cleveland like it has with other teams
Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving got going in the last game, and though LeBron did Lebron things, those other 2 were the real reason the Raptors were set packing.
Remember if the Raptors lose tonight and their season comes to an end it's not the worst thing in the world. The future is bright for Toronto.
We have ourselves a series! Raptors defeated the Cavs on Saturday night to bring the series to 2-1 and hand Cleveland their first loss in the post-season.
Saturday also marked the first time that an Eastern Conference Finals game was played outside Canada and the first ECF win in Raptors franchise history!
Bizmack Biyombo had a monster game grabbing 26 rebounds and altering/blocking countless shots. He took a low blow near the end of the game at the hands of Dahntay Jones, who has been suspended for 1 game.
The rumours are swirling that Jonas Valanciunas' status has been raised from doubtful, to gametime decision, to "i'm playing"; that last one being from the man himself. He's been sidelined since game 3 in the Miami series with a sprained ankle
Tonight'sRaptorTrack!
Econoline Crush - "Home"
Nothing like playing in front of your home crowd and Kyle Lowry was recently quoted as saying that the team feeds off the ACC crowd's energy and want them to be as loud as possible. It definitely helped last home game and here's hoping the same magic and energy is seen tonight
Ok I know it was an ugly game. The Cavaliers had 9 days of rest and the Toronto Raptors had one. And they likely practiced that day too. Here's hoping Game 2 goes a little better for Toronto.
The Raptors started off well on Tuesday with DeMar DeRozan playing his tail off. We need both him and Kyle Lowry to lead the offense for this team to have a shot at winning
It wasn't just LeBron for Cleveland either. While he had a great game and was near unstoppable, he had great support from Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Matthew Dellavadova and Channing Frye
Still no Valanciunas for TO. Though he's reportedly not wearing his walking boot anymore, so we got that going for us....which is nice
Tonight's Raptor Track!
Bleachers - "I Wanna Get Better"
Bleachers are an American rock band from New York. I say band but it's really just the solo side project of Fun member Jack Antonoff. Bleachers' debut came in 2014 and "I Wanna Get Better" was the first single
Well look at this!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who would have thought that it would be late May and The Toronto Raptors are still hooping Playoff Basketball! It's all house money now as the Raptors roll into Cleveland to face the mighty Cavaliers
The Cavs have been waiting, licking their lips in anticipation of who they might face in the ECF. They swept both the Pistons and the Hawks in the first 2 rounds and with players like Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James there is heavy speculation that so go the Raptors.
Jonas Valanciunas is listed as unavailable for at least the first 2 games. Hopefully when Toronto gets back home his situation will be reevaluated. Cleveland on the other hand are a picture of near perfect health.
Don't forget the other good news Raptor fans...Tonight is the NBA Draft Lottery and the Raptors have a chance at a high draft pick thanks to Masai Ujiri and Andrea Bargnani. We get the lower of either Denver or New York and we're in the Eastern Conference Finals! So awesome!!
Tonight's Raptor Track!
A Day To Remember - "2nd Sucks"
No holding back now Toronto! Let's get those NBA Finals banners!! Let's do it!!!!!!!!!!
Nothing left to really say about this series. Kyle and DeMar need to have big games, but we still need production from somebody else. Carroll, Joseph, Patterson, Biyombo.
The winner gets Cleveland on Tuesday. Either way, it'll be a dangerous series.
See you on the other side Raptor fans
Tonight's Raptor Track!
The Offspring - "Defy You"
One of my favourite pump-up jams. Everyone is counting us out. Even most of the people in Canadian, Toronto media. We're still alive. There's one team in the North that still draws breath.
Neck officially protected!!! Game six (6ix) goes off tonight and it just so happens to be Friday the 13th. Will the Heat's luck run out and fall on their home court or will they take it to game seven back in Toronto? Let's take a look...
The bodies continue to hit the floor in one of the craziest series of recent memory. DeMarre Carroll went down hard on his wrist in game 5 but was lucky not to have a break. Though he didn't return that night, he says he will suit up tonight and give it a go. Likely in limited minutes
Miami's Luol Deng also left the game with an injured wrist. His Xray was also negative as there was no indication of a break. No word yet on his status for tonight's game.
Chris Bosh, Jonas Valanciunas and Hassan Whiteside all remain out. While DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, DeMarre Carroll, Luol Deng and Goran Dragic are all playing banged up.
Raptors win tonight and they head to Cleveland for the Cavs on Sunday. Heat win and it's Game 7 back in Toronto.
Tonight's Raptor Track!
Megadeth - "Crush 'Em"
No better way to put it. Stomp 'em on their home court and run for the plane. Yes you're banged up, but you have overcame those obstacles all year. It's in your blood! Go out there and crush 'em. GO RAPTORS! Canada believes in you!!
Coming back to Toronto for game five and we're all tied up once more!! It just feels great to still be writing these posts and we'r almost halfway through May!! WOOP
Miami's big man Hassan Whiteside did not make the trip to Toronto with his team. Meaning he'll be sidelined a little longer than expected with his MCL tear.
Goran Dragic has been issued a technical foul after Monday's game for taking a swing and striking Cory Joseph in the face in the the fourth quarter. Nothing will happen except Goran will have to pay a small fine. Maybe the refs will be watching him a little closer too, maybe.
Finger crossed that DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry have big games in front of their home crowd. It would be great to go up 3-2 heading back down to Miami.
Tonight's Raptor Track!
Wu-Tang Clan - "Protect Ya Neck"
Gotta take care of business tonight and protect home court. In other words protect ya goddamned neck! It's a best of 3 series from here on out and Cleveland gets stronger the longer this one goes on.
CRISIS ALERT!!! Though the Raptors came away with the victory on Saturday it came at a cost of a player having the series of his lifetime. What do the Raptors need to do to secure another win in South Beach?
Yes it's true. Jonas Valanciunas went down early in the 3rd quarter with an ankle sprain and he's been ruled out for atleast the remainder of the series. JV was having a great series and Miami struggled to find an answer for him. Bismack Biyombo will get the start going forward and this means we might have some sightings of Bebe!! Everybody has to step up
In an almost tit-for-tat move, Miami's big man Hassan Whiteside also went out of Game 3 with an injury. Whiteside tore his MCL and is ruled day to day. Though it's been announced he will miss tonight's game
Kyle Lowry came alive after losing his big man and shot the ball extremely well from 3 and ended the game with 30+ points. It's the Lowry we've all known would turn up at some point and were more than happy when he finally did
Tonight's Raptor Track!
The Tea Party - "Walking Wounded"
As neither team is 100% healthy (JV, Whiteside, Bosh and even throw Carroll in there) it seems apt to pick a song that talks about the Walking Wounded. You know when bands release a Greatest Hits album and there's always that one new song on there? Like, how do they know it's going to be a great hit? I get that it acts as an incentive to buy the new record and the song is often a single to be played on the radio, but what if everyone thinks it's shite? Anyway, "Walking Wounded" was that kind of song on the Tea Party's greatest hits album. I'll let you judge it's merit
This could be on of the toughest games the Raptors play all year. Rolling into Miami's home with the series tied one/one. You better believe Miami wants this one badly and will do everything they can to keep the game from slipping away
After 2 overtime games in Toronto I fully expect both teams to come out hot and hungry to get the job done in regular time. It won't be easy, expect just as much physicality as we saw in the last game
Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade both suffered minor leg injuries in the last game and Goran Dragic took an elbow to the face that required stitches. None of these injuries is enough to keep any player from hitting the floor tonight
Though he was saddled with early foul trouble expect Norman Powell to once again get the start for the Raptors tonight. He's got the difficult task of keeping Wade under control and you gotta think that it's a match up that Eric Spoelstra will look to exploit
Tonight's RaptorTrack!
Foals - "Miami"
Though they had never been to Miami when they wrote this song, they named it after the colourful beach scenes in Scarface that featured turquoise suits and tanned faces. The music was inspired the Greek beaches where members of the band would spend their summers and suffer many a heartbreak.
The Heat took game one, but you had to know the Raptors wouldn't go to Miami being down two....
All the talk seems to be about Kyle Lowry's shooting woes. While his threes weren't falling tonight, he shot very well and scored 18 points for his team tonight
Jonas Valanciunas had himself another huge night, getting a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. He continues to impress and a dominate the paint in these playoffs
Had a James Johnson sighting as he was brought in to guard Joe Johnson when he was heating up in the 3rd quarter. It seemed to be enough to stop Miami's run and see Toronto walk away with the W
Tonight's Raptor Track!
AC/DC - "Heatseeker"
Heading down to Miami to seek the Heat and bring it back to the Six with the series 3-1!!!!
WELL HERE WE ARE!!!!
I know i've been slacking on the Game Day blogs lately. It's been a hectic few days and having them in a do or die Game 7 situation was too much for me to take. I barely watched the game until the end and nearly had a heart attack every step of the way. But they did. Defeating the Indiana Pacers in a tough 7 game series, The Raptors now find themselves in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. Their opponent? Former NBA champions Miami Heat
The Heat themselves beat the Charlotte Hornets in a seven game series that ended a few hours before the Pacers' season was snuffed by Toronto. So no team really has an advantage of more rest than the other, except that maybe Toronto has been home since Saturday.
This Miami team is not going to be a pushover. Dwyane Wade has found a way to turn back the clock even though he's 34 years old, playing like a 24 year old. Joe Johnson has been a known Raptor-killer in the past and now plays for the Heat. One of the matchups i'm worried about most is in the middle with Jonas Valanciunas going up against a monster of a center in Hassan Whiteside.
This whole series has been a coming out party for many players. Two players in this series to watch out for have turned many heads in the opening round already or Toronto's Norman Powell and the Heat's rookie Josh Richardson who had a wonderful series against the Charlotte Hornets
Toronto's other rookie Delon Wright has a little more motivation now as the Heat signed his brother Dorell Wright for the remainder of the season
Tonight's Raptor Track!
Lights - "Second Go"
Lights is a fox and I usually need little other reason to play her music. The lights will be on at the ACC and the crowd will be rowdy in Jurassic Park!! Ready for their Raptors to give these playoffs a second go!!! LETS GET ITTTTTTTTTT!!!
