For the second night in a row, the Toronto Raptors pulled out to a large, early lead. And for the second night in a row, they allowed their opponents to slowly reel them in.
I wonder if these two games were as exhausting for you to watch, as they seemed to be for them to play. This Raptors team is good for a lot of things – teasing, primary among them.
"We're a drama team," said Greivis Vasquez. "We make it interesting."
That's one word for it.
The Raptors led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter. They were spotted early by some extraordinary three-point shooting. At one point, they were 10-for-12 from behind the arc. They ended the first half one short of the franchise's best mark – 12. Then, the drama. They didn't make a three pointer in the remaining 29 minutes.
The Washington crowd was once again overrun by visiting Toronto fans. They are relatively few in number, but they're cocky. Any moment is the moment to start a "Let's go, Raptors" chant. The Washington fans were unprepared for this sort of Canadian cheek, first relying on stunned silence, progressing to boos, and finally advancing to drunken cursing. Neither step in the escalation process shut up the visitors.
There is now a strange symbiosis between the team and its fans. Neither believes they can lose, despite some evidence to the contrary.
With 25 seconds left, the ageless Paul Pierce drew it to a tie with a contested three. The Raptors had led every second of the game up until that point.
In previous years, this would've been a dagger. Pierce may be the most reliable Raptor-killer in franchise history. He spent the fading moments of the ensuing timeout chasing Lou Williams around the court, chewing his ear off.
Previous Raptors teams would probably have collapsed. This one shrugged and bore down.
They pulled away in an extra period, driven by Kyle Lowry and Amir Johnson, winning 120-116. While Lowry's play has understandably dropped off, Johnson's has been picking up. It's helping to create the necessary balance.
And while he hasn't yet returned to his typical form, DeMar DeRozan is finding different ways to dominate. On Friday, he led the team in assists (9). On Saturday, he led in rebounds (10). If he picks up four blocks against Milwaukee on Monday, we'll begin to suspect he's doing this on purpose.
They've now taken six in a row. ESPN's playoff prediction model – usually fairly accurate – projects the Raptors to finish with 53 wins, good for second place in the East.
The only downside to that spot is that it would likely remove them from a pairing with Washington. While the Wizards are good, and possess what might be the NBA's most electric player in John Wall, they do not match up well with Toronto. The Raptors could take this team, maybe even easily.
If Washington were to finish third, and then win their own first-round playoff series, then … well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Though they do it the hard way, the Raptors continue to set new marks. Their 33 wins after 48 games is as many or more than they've won in 12 complete seasons. They've never been ranked this high, this late in a year.
Also, two consecutive overtime victories on two consecutive nights is a first in franchise history.
Both of MLSE's flagship teams are setting historic marks, and at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Call it spreading around the risk. Maybe its time to start calling it a temporary changing of the guard.
Cathal Kelly