Toronto Raptors Highlights to Get You Pumped Up for 2014-15 Season

The 2013-14 season was everything fans of the Toronto Raptors could have wanted and more.

Expectations were exceeded, young players emerged, and the rest of the basketball world was introduced to a team that was ready to stake its claim as a legitimate force to be reckoned with for years to come. 

A 6-12 start turned into a 42-22 finish. The Raptors locked down the Atlantic Division and qualified for the postseason for the first time in six years. New fans bought into the hype, and loyalists were given their first glimmer of real hope in what seemed like an eternity.

This upcoming regular season should be just as joyous an experience as the red and white look to build upon one of the greatest runs the franchise has ever had. 

To get you hyped for another wild ride north of the border, here are some highlights to get your Raptor pride flowing. 

Patrick Patterson Saves the Day at the Barclays Center

With things looking bleak against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 27, head coach Dwane Casey turned on his "Pat Signal" and got immediate relief from one of his stud reserves, Patrick Patterson. 

The 25-year-old stole an inbounds pass from Deron Williams as the Raptors trailed 103-102 with 12 seconds remaining on the game clock. After dishing off to Kyle Lowry, Patterson got the ball back and hit a mid-range jumper to give his team the 104-103 win on the road. 

Lowry even compared his teammate to a star NFL cornerback after his defense sealed the deal against the Nets, per Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. 

“Patrick looked like Richard Sherman out there with that steal,” Lowry said. 

“You know me, Richard Sherman, Ed Reed, we’re all in the same category,” laughed Patterson. 

Terrence Ross Turns Kenneth Faried into a Screensaver

I was sitting down for a nice evening dinner with my girlfriend at a sports bar in downtown Toronto when I first saw this slam dunk by Terrence Ross. 

The waitress had just handed us our drinks when the above play took place on the screen in our booth. As I watched Ross run down the court and throw it down on Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, I tossed my drink wildly in the air. The ice-cold beverage came crashing down on my lap. 

Even some of the locals who were watching an NHL game on one of the other screens took notice of the highlight-reel jam, hooting and hollering at the top of their lungs as if it were the greatest thing they had ever seen. 

NBA.com later recognized this dunk as the absolute best of 2014. 

Terrence Ross Drops 51 on the Los Angeles Clippers

In a losing effort to the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 25, Ross tied a franchise record set by Vince Carter 14 years earlier by scoring 51 points in a game.

The second-year pro hit 16 of 29 shots from the field, 10 of 17 tries from three-point range and made nine of 10 attempts from the charity stripe.

What made his offensive onslaught even more surprising was that he was averaging just 9.3 points at the time, making him the first player in NBA history to score 50 while averaging less than 10 points that season. 

"You don't really realize what you're doing until it's all over," Ross said after the game, per ESPN.com. 

The Best of DeMar DeRozan

One measly highlight can't even begin to describe the year DeMar DeRozan is coming off of, so ten should suffice.

With circus shots, spin dribbles and rim-rattling dunks galore, DeRozan elevated his game across the board and cemented his spot amongst the NBA's best shooting guards in 2013-14. 

Being selected by Eastern Conference coaches for the first All-Star Game of his career helped put his name on a much grander scale. People were starting to take notice of the Raptors' success and the important role DeRozan had in their winning ways.

Averages of 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists were all career highs for the USC alumnus. The scary thing is that those numbers could still rise as his confidence continues to grow and his shots get more efficient. 

He just turned 25 in August, and he's already putting up numbers that very few in the league can match. 

When There's Amir, There's a Way

With the game tied at 103 and the Raptors in possession of the basketball, Lowry drove to the basket with hopes of putting Toronto up late in the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics on March 28.

As the ball bounced off the side of the rim, Amir Johnson appeared out of the blue and put the ball back in, giving the Raptors a 105-103 lead with 7.1 seconds remaining.

"My grandmother called and said she's proud," Johnson said afterwards, per The Associated Press. 

The eventual victory secured the Raptors a berth in the playoffs and guaranteed fans more basketball to be played once the 82-game slate was complete. 

Raptors Raise Second Atlantic Division Banner at ACC

To teams like the San Antonio Spurs, winning a division and raising a banner is just part of the process. It's a key component on the path to an NBA championship, which is the ultimate goal for everyone in the league.

For the Raptors, clinching the Atlantic Division when the franchise was thought to be in a period of rebuilding was gratifying beyond belief. 

Making history and earning home-court advantage for the playoffs is a far cry from what experts had envisioned the team could accomplish at the beginning of the season. 

It had been seven years since they last accomplished such a feat. The Raptors will be hoping that it doesn't take nearly as long to pull it off again. 

"Jurassic Park" Takes over Maple Leaf Square

"People in Toronto don't care about what happens to the Raptors. If this Raptors team became decent, I don't know if it would really matter in Toronto," said Grantland analyst Bill Simmons during his NBA season preview. 

When the Raptors did battle with the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, thousands upon thousands of diehard basketball fans stood outside of the Air Canada Centre to watch the festivities unfold on a giant screen. 

Maple Leaf Square was rechristened "Jurassic Park" as Torontonians battled the cold and rainy conditions to prove one gigantic point: What takes place on the hardwood is just as important as what goes down on the ice. 

The team even had footage of the crowd fed into its locker room before games to show the players the importance of what they were doing and how much it meant to those who followed them. 

Bruno Caboclo Arrives on the Scene

Leave your doubts and preconceived notions about Bruno Caboclo, the Raptors' first-round pick (No. 20) in the 2014 NBA draft, at the door.

The stigma that came with ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla saying that the 19-year-old Brazilian was "two years away from being two years away" left a bad aftertaste on draft night, although it was clearly too soon to make such an assessment.

Since that time, Caboclo has integrated himself into the Raptors' culture rather smoothly as he forges relationships with his teammates and coaches while strengthening his grasp of the English language. 

With a 7'7" wingspan, an eagerness to learn and all of the time in the world to set the wheels of his career in motion, Caboclo has the tools to slowly get his game to an NBA-ready level and one day be a valuable member of the Raptors' rotation.  

It won't happen overnight, but it won't take four years either. 

#WeTheNorth

"We the North."

It's the battle cry of a country that has not only embraced the sport of basketball but embedded it into its DNA.

It signifies the support of 2.5 million in the greater Toronto area and another 32 million from far and wide.

The pressure that comes with representing so many people is a huge task in and of itself, but the Raptors willingly accept that responsibility and use it to push themselves further. 

It says Toronto on the game sheet, but in reality, this is Canada's team. 

Christopher Walder is considered by many to be the "songbird of his generation" and the greatest center to have never played professional, collegiate, high school, house league or pickup basketball. His work has been published on Bleacher Report, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated, FanSided and several other online outlets. You may follow him on Twitter at @WalderSports.

Unless noted otherwise, all statistics are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com or ESPN.com.