NBA playoff scores 2016: The Raptors will be fighting old demons in Game 7

Toronto fans know what everyone else is thinking about, but now they must come to that reality.

by Tim Cato

Apr 30, 2016, 1:00 PM UTC

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

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2016 NBA playoffs: Blazers eliminate Clippers at home; Heat, Pacers each force Game 7

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The memories are all coming back now.

Toronto led 3-2 in the series, only needing to close one game ... and they couldn’t.

Kyle Lowry splits two defenders, somehow keeping the ball and rising up for a potentially game-winning shot in Game 7 ... and Paul Pierce knocks away.

The Wizards unexpectedly win Game 1 ... and then the second one, then the third and suddenly the Toronto Raptors are out of the playoffs.

For fans of the Raptors, these memories haven’t actually gone away. They’re still raw. But this season seemed different, making it easy to compartmentalize them in an obscure dark corner of the brain. As Toronto marched for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record, they seemed so real, like a viable contender to Cleveland’s throne and like a team that you wouldn’t have to worry about losing in the first round, finally breaking that vicious two-year cycle of losing despite having home court advantage both times.

Those same memories resurfaced after the Game 1 loss, but quickly, it looked like Toronto rebounded from it. The Raptors immediately won the next two games, and then went back up 3-2 on their home floor. With a chance to close things out in Game 6, the Raptors didn’t come close, falling 101-83 with their vaunted offense completely failing to produce any sort of tangible, positive results that would even make you think that a Game 7 series win is possible.

For Raptors fans, this has to be excruciating. There isn't any clear-cut rhyme or reason that can explain exactly why Toronto has struggled so much. In Game 6, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry were both awful once again, combining for 18 points on 7-of-27 shooting with eight turnovers. Lowry may still be bothered by a nagging wrist injury, but it's hard for Toronto to even complain about that, not when they look around the league and see nearly a dozen key players for playoff teams all missing games.

On Friday, Toronto even got a solid performance from DeMarre Carroll, who is working his way back into his own as a player after missing most of the Raptors season with injuries. It wasn't enough. Toronto scored 19 points in the final frame, but it was sitting at merely five points with less than four minutes to go. For the Raptors, it's an embarrassing moment for an awful series. For Toronto fans, though, the loss was just a subliminal reminder: you'll never be able to escape your first-round woes.

2 more things from Friday

Austin River’s incredible night comes just short

This is what Austin Rivers was playing through after an inadvertent elbow needed seven stitches above his eye and four more below it.

Yes, Rivers played through that. And he played well! Rivers played nearly the entire second half and was answering Portland nearly every step of the way, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting with eight assists and six rebounds. Even as Portland rained down three-pointers in the third quarter with the intent of putting the game away, Rivers answered back, keeping Los Angeles close until the Blazers finally took a lead they’d hold onto for the rest of the game.

Dwyane Wade's not dead

Wade's 23 points look good in a box score, but they look even better in context. It was Dwyane Wade who hit critical shots in Miami's Game 6 win against Charlotte, and it was Wade who went on a personal 5-0 run to keep hope alive for the Heat, who now head back home for a decisive final game against the Hornets.

This series has been the strangest one in the first round, opening with two historically good scoring performances by Miami as they went up 2-0 only to see Charlotte drag things back down to their level and rattle off three straight wins. Now, things are all even headed into the series’ final game. What more can you ask for?