When you win, nobody questions anything. But when you don’t win, everything is scrutinized. The Toronto Raptors have gone from NBA bottom-dweller to fun upstart team to playoff punchline in the less than a decade.
Never mind that they have had the best record in the East in the last three seasons or that they have steadily increased their win totals and have a deep and talented roster.
They keep losing in the playoffs! And in dramatic fashion.
Last season was the exclamation mark to what has been the Raptors’ notorious MO: playoff choking. They became the first number-one seed to get swept before the conference finals.