Winners of their last six-games and eight of their last 10, the Toronto Raptors have — finally — blossomed into the playoff contending team that Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster and Nick Nurse knew they could be. Having beaten the likes of the top seeded Miami Heat, surging Atlanta Hawks and then-playoff-bound Charlotte Hornets twice in the 10-game span, Toronto has shown that they can flex their muscle against top-talent.
Enter the Oklahoma City Thunder — a team decidedly short on top-talent and missing their premiere player and local Ontario hero, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.