Before Game 5 on Wednesday, as Raptors fans were locked in battles with anxiety or indigestion or both, we here at Raptors HQ asked a simple question about the looming swing game against the Wizards: who was primed to become the newest playoff folk hero in Toronto?
Weighing historical precedent and gut feelings, some candidates were laid out. Would it be a fortuitous flip of one of the C.J. Miles or Lucas Nogueira wild cards? Would a Game 5 against a team that regularly features five-man bench units led by Ty Lawson jog Norman Powell’s memory of how to be good at basketball?