The Milwaukee Bucks may have finished with the best record in the NBA this season, but the Toronto Raptors were able to dispatch them in the Eastern Conference Finals, reeling off four straight wins to beat them in six games.
As a matter of fact, the Raptors had a more difficult time with the Philadelphia 76ers, who pushed them to seven games in the second round of the playoffs, and head coach Nick Nurse says that the 76ers kind of crept up on them:
“It was a little later in the series [than against the Bucks], so it felt a little different,” Nurse said, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. The Raptors were also on the road. “We strolled past them in Game 1, and [the media] was like, ‘Here comes the sweep.' And then they snuck out Game 2 and kicked our a– in Game 3. We didn't bring it. It was regroup or pack-the-bags time.”
Meanwhile, Raptors guard Danny Green seemed to indicate that Philadelphia made them more uncomfortable than Milwaukee:
“I'm not saying Milwaukee isn't talented, but Philly has so many talented guys across the board,” Green said. “They are much bigger. We weren't sure we were going to be able to find our rhythm against them. With Milwaukee, we knew the [fast] pace they played was in our favor. They weren't as big. We knew we could defend them.”
Regardless, Toronto beat both teams, and now, the Raptors are one win away from dethroning the Golden State Warriors and winning their first-ever NBA championship.
Toronto can wrap things up in Game 6 on Thursday night.
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