Listed: My 10 Favourite Toronto Raptors Wins

I was getting some X-rays today (long story, don’t ask) and bumming myself out about the state of the Raptors when I decided to cheer myself up—by counting down my 10 favourite Rap wins.

And before you ask, yes, there are 10 of them. One is even a playoff win, too.

10 ) March 11, 2007: Toronto 120, Seattle 119
The Raptors make a quick comeback, with a rookie Bargnani hitting a couple clutch free throws to tie the game—just to force OT and sneak away with a pretty good win in the only Raptors game I’ve ever seen at the ACC.

9 ) Jan. 13, 2008: Toronto 116, Portland 109
A double OT game that I remember thinking the Raptors had lost (or had won) at least four or five times. For some reason this Raps team always matched up well against the Trailblazers. I dunno why.

Honourable mention 1:
March 22, 1998: Toronto 100, Chicago 102
The Raptors take the 1998 Bulls—Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, et al—right down to the buzzer at the Skydome. Doug Christie and John Wallace (remember him anybody?) light it up, each scoring 20+. Easily the highlight of a 15-win season.

8 ) Feb. 27, 1998: Toronto 115, Orlando 107
The Raps pull out a win with a huge fourth quarter, then endure three overtimes against a pretty solid Magic. Christie and Wallace with big games, again. The only three-OT game I remember the Raptors winning, though I’m sure there are more.

7 ) Nov. 3, 1995: Toronto 94, New Jersey 79
Not just Toronto’s first game, but their first home game and their first win, too. Alvin Robertson drops 30 and Damon Stoudamire has a double-double in his first NBA game.

6 ) Feb. 21, 1999: Toronto 102, Vancouver 87
Remember Kevin Willis? He had 17 points and 15 boards in this game, while VC netted 27 in a win over the hapless Grizzlies. And the Raptors played their first game in something called the Air Canada Centre on this night too.

5 ) Dec. 20, 2006: Toronto 98, Los Angeles Clippers 96
Despite being generally outplayed by a solid Clippers team—pretty much the same one that took the Suns to seven games the previous spring—TJ Ford hits a shot at the buzzer to win the game. Clippers season-ticket holder and ESPN scribe Bill Simmons starts cryptically making hints towards Raptor truthers around this point. Maybe it’s not a great win, at the time it showed the Raptors weren’t just a team that looked only looked good against subpar opponents in the Atlantic division.

4 ) Feb. 27, 2000: Toronto 103, Phoenix 102
Not just a wildly entertaining game against a fun Suns team (Penny Hardaway and Jason Kidd on the floor at the same time!), but one where VC drops 51, still the team record. Why this isn’t shown more on Raptors TV is beyond me.

3 ) May 11, 2001: Toronto 102, Philadelphia 78

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