It’s the series many have been looking forward to, with even more anticipating it for quite some time. After making quick work of their first-round opponents by way of sweeps en route to their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals encounter, the Raptors and Celtics, two squads with some of the league’s best young talent, were set to take the stage. Except one side almost looked like they forgot to show up.
Call it what you will, but if we’re being honest, the Raptors were merely a shell of the NBA’s second-best team that they were during the regular season — a season that garnered a better record than the year prior with two notable stars in Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green missing.