Quickley out for series | Where do Raptors go from here?

Samson Folk & Louis Zatzman discuss the latest in the Raptors realm.

From Louis’ piece:

“Murray-Boyles dimes Barrett, and-1, grabs the missed rebound, dimes Battle for another triple. He grabs a Barnes miss, tosses it back in the net. The lead is six, perhaps a thousand. A steal, a triple, a timeout.

This game is fully about the Raptors, now. Ingram hasn’t played for a long time, but it means little in the maelstrom of a lead, at last, a lead. Chaos was a ladder, survivable, in the first half. Stability has been an elevator in the second. Barnes sits for perhaps 20 seconds of game time, and Barrett hits a pull-up triple. It is destiny, now. The beast is cornered, tired, not maddened but accepting its fate. Toronto obliges.

The lead at last swells and crests. Battle hits another triple, his fourth, or his 10th. Toronto leads by 17. Cleveland calls a timeout, turns it over, calls a timeout. The final buzzer marches towards the game, no mystery left but the size of the victory. Barrett hits another pull-up triple, another layup. He has joined Barnes at 33 points. Another timeout, Cleveland’s last. Cleveland’s deep bench emerges to play, the white flag fully aloft.

Is the series within reach now? Toronto has passed through a storm and emerged predatorial. Perhaps Barnes and Murray-Boyles remain the two best players in the series. Or perhaps this is one moment of crystalized perfection floating alone in a sea of lessons. It is impossible for this game to repeat itself. These two teams could play one another until judgement day, and this peyote-fueled chaos fiesta would never occur again. Maybe the Raptors find another type of game they can win.

Regardless, there is glory enough from this. The Raptors are on the board. Welcome to the playoffs.”

Have a blessed day.

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