King James hits old haunts
The Raptors aren’t the only Eastern Conference team that have been roadkill in LeBron James’s journey to the NBA’s Mount Rushmore. But there’s no doubt James has owned the Raptors — it’s been so onesided that ESPN dubbed the city “LeBronto” when last year’s playoffs ended in another demoralizing Toronto loss at the hands of James. But less than 12 months on, it’s a totally different story for LeBron the Laker. James returns Thursday night with a scuffling Los Angeles team that sits at 31-36, is decimated by injuries and has only the slimmest chance of making the playoffs. Still, fans want to see the 15-time NBA all-star in his only visit to Toronto this season. On resale sites Thursday’s game stood out as the most expensive of all the Raptors remaining home games, with the lowest priced tickets trading for more than even the Raptors’ first round playoff series. Another magic moment, or payback for Toronto fans willing to shell out the hard cash, would add to the glittering array of James highlights against the Raptors in his 16year NBA career:
DAGGER
Toronto was down 2-0 heading to Cleveland for Game 3 of the 2018 Eastern Conference semifinals. The Raptors trail by 11 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, but mount a furious comeback to tie the game on an OG Anunoby threepointer with eight seconds left. After a timeout, it looks like the Cavs surprised the Raptors by inbounding the ball from their end instead of half-court. James charges toward the Raptors basket, then banks in a miraculous, fadeaway, buzzer-beating shot. Masai Ujiri blew up at the coaching staff after the game, demanding to know why James wasn’t double-teamed, according to the Star’s Dave Feschuk. The playoffs were basically over and another Cavs sweep was in the books. Coach Dwane Casey was soon fired and fan favourite DeMar DeRozan sent packing to San Antonio in a blockbuster trade.
KRUSTY THE CLOWN
Sometimes, LeBron vs Toronto was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters play the Washington Generals. James’ Cavaliers swept the Raptors in the second round of the 2017 playoffs, and it didn’t even look like the Cavs were taking them seriously. In Game 2, James twirled the ball on his finger and then casually made the threepoint shot in front of Serge Ibaka. Chris Walder, NBA news editor at theScore, put together a brilliant video clip of that play with the classic Simpsons episode of Krusty the Clown betting on the Generals. “He’s spinning the ball on his finger! Just take it! Take the ball! That game was fixed.”
BASKETBALL SAVANT
James knows the game so well, that on one sequence in the same 2017 series, he corrected then Raptors forward Patrick Patterson on where to stand for a play that Casey called after a timeout to free DeRozan for a shot. Former Cavs GM David Griffin shared that story on the Bill Simmons podcast.
DON’T TAUNT HIM
In a January 2008 game, the Raptors blew a 20-point lead in a loss to the Cavaliers, at the time the biggest collapse at home in franchise history. James seemed to be fuelled by taunts from Chris Bosh’s girlfriend after he had blown a dunk. He scored 24 points in the final quarter. Raptors sitting on the bench were also heckling James but it was Bosh’s girlfriend who got his attention. Cameras caught him saying “It’s your fault, it’s your fault” to the area where Bosh’s family and friends were sitting.