I haven't talked about the raptors in a while:

Two years ago, they were known to have a bench mob, a group of guy who could play a handful of minutes every night and have a significant impact on the game

59-23
1st in Eastern Conference
Swept by the Cavs in 2nd round of playoffs
These bench mob guys were Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, CJ Miles, Jakob Poeltl, and Norman Powell.

4/7 are currently on the Raptors roster and make regular appearances in the starting line ups
That was really the last sight of the bench mob. Our starters could hold their own. Last year we had Kawhi, Kyle, Pascal (who was Different), Danny, Fred, Serge, Marc (for the second half).

58-24
2nd in the Eastern Conference
NBA Champs
The Raptors were far from a sure thing to win the Championship. Kawhi helped, for sure. His playoff experience was invaluable. Don't get too high or too low. Play your game.

That experience had a huge effect on the bench players

OG, Norman Powell, Pat McCaw, Chris Boucher
This year, we lost Kawhi, tragically.
People said the Raptors wouldn't return to the playoffs. They said the only reason we got there was because of him, as if we hadn't been there for the past five years.
This was not your dad's Raptors team.
Without Kawhi, they went 17-5!

This year, the Raptors were underdogs again, underestimated, misunderstood.

Instead, they went on a 15 game win streak with at least one starter gone in 9 games. In the last 5 games, missing at least 2. In the last 2 games, 3 were missing.
In fact, in 64 game:

Kyle Lowry has played in 52
OG in 63
Pascal in 53
Freddie in 48
Serge in 50
Norman in 44
Marc Gasol in 36

All of their top players, except one(!!!) has missed more than 10 games. That means almost every 5 games, one of their stars was hurt.
This thread was inspired by the Raptors game on December 22nd against the Dallas Mavericks.
After almost 3 quarters, the Raptors were down 30 points. They went onto win it 110-107. The 3rd biggest comeback in NBA history, biggest in Raptor history.
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