‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ Kyle Lori repeated those words over and over again as she slowly walked toward the center-court logo, the sole pride of wearing it for nine years.
No one listened to him, of course. The wall of sound was created about twenty minutes before the Raptors legend and current Miami hit star went to the floor as a group of hits.
Longtime ScotiaBank In-Arena announcer Herbie Kuhn started her trademark lorry wind-up – ‘From North Philly, in your town’ – unheard in Toronto since February 2020, the crowd roared and stood like this for more than 90 seconds Na Lori herself raised her arm and returned to the hit bench, acknowledging all aspects of the building that she had helped put on the NBA map.
He achieved a goal: he was able to keep the waterworks away despite standing under the spotlight with his growing sons Carter and Cameron.
“I won’t let all of you make me cry, just because you’re all here and I’m here, no. I know when I cry, Demar [DeRozan] Make fun of me and it will go viral, “said Laurie, who came to her pre-game press conference with her championship ring, a diamond-studded watch on her left wrist, a heavy jeweled band on her right wrist and a new suit. For the occasion
“Then no, I will not do that. But that being said, my kids will be with me in that video, I’m sure it’ll go crazy, it’ll be good, one thing I can see is how I’m doing. But I will hold back as much as possible. “
The video was great – it touched on every aspect of Lori’s Toronto legacy – And he held back enough.
But the sound came down when the lights were on – If a little – It was time to go to work, and Lori’s team set out to prove Lori’s legacy alive, looking forward to winning a title in Miami.
Raptors – Like their former leader – Live to compete.
“I hope to God we’ll waste his night,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said before the match. “We love him, no doubt about it. But you know what my job is now to kick her ass. We’ll see what happens. “
What happened was a story that Raptor fans are quite familiar with this season – At least when they were at the end of the game rate they played well enough to win otherwise.
With both teams coming forward in a crisis of a good game play, the hit had more shot makers – Or more people are shooting – Miami and Lori made the Raptors leave town with a 114-109 win.
Even one night without star Jimmy Butler and three rotation players, ultra-deep hits like Max Strauss and a revived Victor Oladipo got some exciting shots of the late game to prevent the Raptors from ruining Lori’s homecoming because they were too strong. To do
The pair combined for four triplets in four attempts as part of a 14-1 run that broke the tie game to play at 5:51 and put Miami at No. 10 with 2:22 on the clock. A Pascal Siakam triple, a driving lay-up and a couple of trips on the line weren’t enough to make any ground, although Vanvolit saw the three well enough to pull Toronto into one with 9.9 seconds left.
The loss saw the Raptors snatch a five-game winning streak as they went down 45-33 in the season to return to sixth place, with seven games left in Cleveland with four games left. The Heat improved to 51-28 and previously had two games up in Boston for first place.
The strength that the Raptors showed was no surprise to Lori. He knows the script when the former rapper returns to Toronto: nothing is easier.
“Nick won’t let me score tonight,” Laurie predicted. “… Nick that someone who plays here has come back and played a good game? [No one responds] Exactly. I know Nick won’t let me spend a night with me, but we’ll see what happens. I am ready for the challenge. “
She was. Lori couldn’t get any stretch gap, but she finished with 16 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, and started Miami’s return from under 10 and started the third quarter with her defense in her playmaking and vanvalet, finishing with 29 points and seven. Did. Helped after scoring 21 points in the first half. Siakam finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but the pair also counted nine of the Raptors’ 14 turnovers.
There were three point shooting differences. Miami was 38 out of 18 and Toronto was 39 out of 12.
The Raptors had more than the challenge of wasting Lori’s big night and knocking out the best team of the East for the third time in four attempts this season.
There is no game without Lori’s promise because Vanvilit was determined to make Sunday a night that Lori would never forget for better or worse. The Raptors Point Guard received notice as an undraft rookie when he picked up Lori on the full court on the first day of training camp and refused to return until the team was formed and Lori was honored.
It didn’t take long for both of them – Vanvolit is playing a role for which he was born, but in the wake of his victory with Lori in the city, he thought it was time to reunite. Vanvolit refuses to give Lori an inch, picks up Lori’s pockets in the mid-court in a very early first quarter and does everything in his power to make life difficult, usually for the 36-year-old.
At the other end, Vanvalet’s legs showed the most life before the All-Star break after a few weeks of fighting to play through a crushed knee. Four minutes before the game, he took and tripled two and added a steal and a lay-up to give Toronto a 12-7 lead. When he hit his third triple hit in the quarter, Vanvillate Lori broke the Raptors franchise record 239 in a single season and Toronto was leading 23-12 as they led 13 men in that period.
Vanvolit was enjoying it. Towards the end of the second quarter, he broke down the defense again and collided with Lori in mid-air in the basket, and Vanvolit easily finished by bouncing his advisor. When Burns posed “The Hulk” in recognition, Vanvillit could only smile when he returned to the floor.
The raptors continue to hunt Lori. Even though the hit bench headed by Tyler Hero kept Miami in touch with Toronto, there was no moment to welcome Laurie. In the final possession of the hit in the first half, the Raptors give Lori some shape in the form of a 6-foot-9 Siakam, and then, when Lori tries to force a switch, the 6-foot-8 burns come forward to knock her out. And finally half of Miami forced a 12th turnover.
Toronto led 55-45 towards the half where Vanvilit was looking for the best point guard on the floor with 21 points per inch while shooting 3-of-6 from deep on the way to his friend’s franchise record.
There was nothing that Lori had never experienced before in Toronto, just as a spectator.
But Lori wasn’t going to go out that way. Not without quarrels. Not in this building. Lori had four quick assists at half-time to give Max Strauss a quick hitter as part of a 24-13 lead for a Corner Three that gave Miami their first lead after the second minute of play. He also helped keep Vanvilit under control, but only for so long. Vanvolit relaxed for a triple – the seventh of his game – and then fouled in the act, and Miami made all his free throws to tie the score briefly before taking a 79-78 lead in the fourth.
His old team fought hard from there, and so did his new team.
There was a good reason to celebrate Lori on center court before the ball went up, a moment is coming a long way that will hardly be forgotten.
Lori deserves the love she showered on him, and she’s been trying so hard to get it back.
“When we look back at the tough game that this team has put in over the years, he’s got a lot of credit for that and he deserves a lot of credit for that, that’s for sure,” said the nurse.
Lori made her name in the NBA by playing hard and demanding that everyone around her do the same.
It’s a feature that survives in Toronto even as he’s gone.
So no Kyle, thank you.