Quote:
Originally Posted by osmo
Game 3 will be more of a test because if they can get 2 wins in Cleveland then it heals past mistakes.
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If they get two wins in Cleveland then I expect to see a cure-all for cancer, the end of the Trump presidency, an end to all war, and the second coming of our Lord and Saviour as prophesied in the Book of Revelation.
But even so, if by some miraculous turn of events they get two wins in Cleveland, I would fully expect them to be the last two wins of the season.
To say this has been a disappointment, a meltdown of epic proportions, is to understate what it means to be a fan invested in a team that you've grown to love. Sure, it's just a game, and they're just millionaires bouncing a ball, but even millionaires have feelings.
The arc of the narrative these past few years has been ever upward toward greater things, each year an improvement over the last. In a city and province starved for sporting success, the Raptors represented boundless hope and enthusiasm for a greater day to come. Then FC won the footie championship last year, and the Leafs got good this year, and all of a sudden it seemed like great things were on the horizon.
So this hurts. Does it salve the wound that it has been the second-best player of all time who has stymied this team the past few years? In retrospect, it might. Still, this playoff performance anxiety is like a nightmare you can't wake up from. Like an addiction you can't shake.
Probably the only thing to do is to lance the wound. Blow the damn thing up, as much as for the catharsis as for anything else. DeRozan and Lowry, gone. Try to get a veteran upper tier player (Paul George?) who won't melt in the postseason, and focus on maturing this terrific cast of younger players.