The Toronto Raptors defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in game 7

With 4.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, Marc Gasol inbounded the ball to Kawhi Leonard, who was defended by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, and pulled up at the right corner; the ball bounced once, twice, three, four, five times, and the game was done! The Toronto Raptors won the series 4-3 after this buzzer beater drilled by the “Klaw” Kawhi Leonard won game seven 92-90 in the Air Canada Arena of the Raptors against the 3rd seed team, the Philadelphia 76ers, in front of thousands of Canadians watching.

After the Raptors defeated the 7th seed team, the Orlando Magic, and the 76ers defeated the 6th seed team, the Brooklyn Nets, the Raptors, and 76ers met at the Eastern Conference semi-finals to compete for one of the two spots at the Eastern Conference Finals, where 15 teams in the East would battle to be the King of the East. This year was extremely important for all the teams in the Eastern Conference because this was the first year that the “King of the East” LeBron James went to the Western Conference where he joined the house of the Lakers in Los Angeles. This was also the first time that James has joined any Western Conference team in his 16-year-long career, ending his 8-year-long reign in the East. This has been the first time in eight years that a team in the East has a shot at winning the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

The Raptors and the 76ers series could be considered the most unpredictable series in this year’s playoff other than the Finals. Both teams have two or more all-star players, and both have had at least 3 players that has made the NBA all-star game before. The Raptors won the first game in the series, but lost the next two, so the 76ers have an one game lead. Then, the Raptors came back two games to clinch the game point. In the next game, the 76ers had a do-or-die situation, and their four all-stars scored a combined total of 79 points to drag the series into the tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, with the help of Kawhi Leonard’s 41 points and his fade away game-wining buzzer beater, the Raptors advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the 1st seed Milwaukee Bucks and the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo. This has also been the first year since 2011 where LeBron James hasn’t appeared on the floor of the Eastern Conference Finals. The King is being reformed in the West.

Featured Image – Kawhi Leonard drills a game-winning jumper to eliminate the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of a second-round playoff series Courtesy of Nathan Denette