Raptors earn first playoff series win in 15 years

TORONTO — After the final buzzer, there was joy: Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri hugged global ambassador Drake outside of the locker room; All-Star DeMar DeRozan said Toronto got the monkey off its back; assistant coach Andy Greer had his arm around owner Larry Tanenbaum, saying, “I’m happy for you.”

On Sunday the Raptors did what they hadn’t done in 15 years, advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs with an 89-84 Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers.

If this was a a redemption story, it was an unconventional one. A jumper from Cory Joseph gave Toronto a 16-point lead with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter, and it needed every bit of that cushion. Five minutes later, after a parade of Raptors turnovers and missed jumpers, Pacers guard Monta Ellis hit a 3-pointer to cut their deficit to three points.

The Air Canada Centre crowd, ready to explode all series, tensed up in the final minutes. The players did, too, and it wasn’t pretty. But it was, in the end, enough.

DeRozan made two free throws to seal it. There was the confetti and the celebration, and the massive sighs of relief.

“That was not enjoyable at all,” a Raptors staffer said after the 89-84 win. “But I’m glad it’s over.”

So little of this seven-game series was aesthetically pleasing, but it was a different type of drama. Indiana tried to swarm DeRozan and fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry, and it was largely successful. Toronto tried to pound the Pacers on the glass, and it was largely successful. The on-court storylines — Paul George as arguably the best player in the playoffs, the Raptors’ superior depth — were almost drowned out by talk of history. It felt fitting that it ended with Toronto just barely overcoming its worst habits.

Indiana came as close as you can get to becoming the second team to upset a No. 2 seed in the first round since 1999.

“We kind of took the life out of this team and the life out …

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