At the end of regulation on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the crowd went wild. Why?
Well, they saw their hometown Toronto Raptors win Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals by a 100-94 final in a back-and-forth contest and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Kawhi Leonard, who was acquired last summer in a risky move by Raptors president Masai Ujiri, came through with a huge game once again to send Toronto into pandemonium.
Leonard scored 27 points and gathered 17 rebounds to lead his team to their fourth consecutive victory in the series.
Few gave the Raptors a chance after falling down 2-0 to the #1 seeded Bucks after the first two games of the conference finals. However, a scrappy, energetic team led by one of the NBA’s biggest stars was able to completely turn the series around.
Milwaukee, led by MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo, was proven to be just too young and inexperienced to get past the resolve of the NBA’s only Canadian franchise.
The Toronto Raptors’ reward for winning the series is a date with the back-to-back champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. The series will begin on Thursday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
