The wait seemed like forever.
The wait was well worth it.
The NBA Finals began for the first time ever in Toronto, our own piece of sporting history, across the city, across this giant country, in a Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night that never felt this electric before, this frantic, this crazed.
That was Game 1 against the dynastic Golden State Warriors. NBA basketball played on fast-forward. A three here. A three there. No time to catch your breath for those watching and those playing.
It was that kind of incredible. It was that kind of wondrous, for the city to show this to the world, for the sport. For the Raptors to shock the basketball world outside of Canada and take Game 1 of the best-of-seven series, 118-109 on Thursday night was nothing short of amazing.
The Raptors won. The city won. The country won. And the truth: There has never been anything like this before in Toronto — and this was just the beginning. This was just Game 1, the first chapter of a mystery, no way to guess the ending.
There were people on the streets watching basketball from Halifax to Vancouver, a country with a basketball history shorter than Steve Nash, finding a new game and a new team at the time of year we normally pay homage to Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby.
But here was the Scotiabank Arena, co-star of Game 1, the city and Pascal Siakam, inside and outside louder than it has ever been, occasionally more profane than it has ever been — directing swearing cheers of sorts at Paul Pierce before the game, for some at the spectacular Draymond Green while play was on.
And in between, there was a reception line of former Raptors from good times and mostly bad, lined up on the court at a stoppage of play, one last chance to say hello and goodbye. This was the history of the Raptors, bad and good and a little more bad, the team so many left behind and the city they badmouthed on the way out town.
Chris Bosh was cheered and booed as he should have been. Charles Oakley and Morris Peterson, traded away, were cheered. Big cheer for Tracy McGrady, who never said a good word about the Raptors or Toronto throughout most of his career and left before he became a Hall of Fame player, was cheered. Same for Damon Stoudamire, who was not Hall of Fame, but conspired with Isiah Thomas to bring the franchise down: He was cheered. It was easier to cheer for Jerome Williams and Steph Curry’s dad, Dell Curry. They hurt nobody over the years. And somewhere in a media seat was Isiah, the first general manager, the Raptors architect of early and flowing discontent. He set the tone for so many troubled seasons. He wasn’t part of the on-court lineup during Game 1.
And also missing from on court was Drake, sitting in his seat, well-behaved, keeping his hands to himself.
Before the game, Steve Kerr, the veteran coach and most reasonable voice in the game, was talking about how different the Finals are, how they require a certain set of experience, and then the Raptors went to work.
The young, delightful and athletic Siakam had his coming out party for all the world to see, hitting on 14-of-17 shooting and finishing with a team-high 32 points.
The kid from Cameroon was an absolute giant in Game 1, scoring on Green or whoever else covered him. He was spectacular and the Warriors had little answer for him.
Spectacular also was Marc Gasol, in his first championship game, also he has played for Olympic gold, expanding his offence, with 14 points by halftime as the Raptors took a 10-point lead at halftime.
And Kawhi Leonard was the pragmatic Kawhi Leonard. He didn’t have to score a million points. He just had to be there, playing defence the way he can, supplying enough offence and enough rebounding when needed — and leading.
And there was Kyle Lowry, at one time taking a flying knee to the chest from Green, the 230-pound forward. It was the kind of knee that might end a UFC fight. Lowry did what he normally does, dusting himself off and kept on playing.
How important was the win for the Raptors? Put it this way: Golden State has played in five straight NBA Finals, the past four against Cleveland. This is their first Game 1 played on the road, their first defeat in Game 1 in this championship era.
By late Thursday night, there was celebration.
The day began with people lined up around the Scotiabank Arena and by the time the arena was full just before game time, a Canadian national anthem had the place shaking.
It shook at the beginning, shook at the end, and the streets surrounding the arena felt that way as midnight neared.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
