5 reasons the Toronto Raptors can win the NBA Championship

TORONTO, CANADA - JANUARY 6: Kyle Lowry #7 of the Toronto Raptors looks on with Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors during the game against the Indiana Pacers on January 6, 2019 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 7: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 7, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3. They won’t have to play LeBron

Three seasons in a row, the Raptors were eliminated by a LeBron James-led Cavaliers team, ending last year on a ten-game postseason losing streak to Cleveland. It went from somewhat comic to tragicomic to just tragic over the course of these three seasons. At times it felt as if LeBron had mastered some sort of hex that applied just to the Raptors, making them somehow incapable of defeating him. Maybe I’m projecting here, but it seemed as if there was a pall that fell over the Raptors faces as soon as they walked on the floor against him, like they themselves were convinced that some mystical power was at play here preventing them from moving forward against him and the Cavaliers.

This year, though, the Raptors don’t have to worry about him! He’s not going to be in the playoffs at all, which should potentially open a lot of doors for them this postseason. There are legitimate questions about the Raptors playoff struggles throughout the years, even apart from their annual collapses against the Cavaliers, but not having to face LeBron removes one major obstacle to playoff success that has impeded them in the past.

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