Surprise! The Raptors won a Game 1 in the NBA Playoffs

The Raptors entered the NBA Playoffs on a streak of 10 (10!) Game 1 losses. That streak is officially over.

If you haven’t heard, the Toronto Raptors have something of a Game 1 problem when it comes to the NBA Playoffs. Well, they have something of a Playoffs Problem, but it’s a problem exemplified in their inability to ever win a Game 1. The current core has lost the past seven Game 1s over the past four years and Toronto as a franchise has lost 10 consecutive Game 1s. The crazy thing is, the Raptors still won three of those series. They’re just really, truly, terribly bad at Game 1s.

Now, 84 years later, in 2018 and with the No. 1 seed, Toronto has shown us one thing: This team can win — specifically, Game 1.

The last Raptors fans to feel good about a 1-0 lead in the playoffs were the fans who filled out Air Canada Centre in the 2001 Playoffs against a 76ers team headlined by Allen Iverson. (The Raptors lost that series, so, really, there wasn’t that much to feel good about.) Apparently, the Raptors have never won a playoff opener, ever.

Entering the 2018 round 1 series against the Washington Wizards, a team who most recently lost by 9 to the Orlando Magic in a game with a score that sounds like it went better than it did, Kyle Lowry told media that the team was treating Game 1 like a Game 7 — in other words, a must win.

Next: 3 takeaways from Spurs-Warriors Game 1

That is wild! Also wild? The Wizards-Raptors Game 1, which saw Toronto take a deceptive lead before trading buckets through the second half. And yet, the Raptors committed the way one does in a, well, the way one does in a Game 7, and got the crucial Game 1 win for the ultimate mental and morale victory.

Congratulations to the Toronto Raptors on winning Game 1.