{"id":6412,"date":"2019-06-14T15:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T15:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/?p=6412"},"modified":"2019-06-14T15:00:55","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T15:00:55","slug":"toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cYou have fans that have been around for 24 years and you have fans that have been around for two weeks. Everyone\u2019s coming together and they\u2019re having a good time. That\u2019s all that really matters,\u201d said Sara MacLennan-Nobrega, a self-identified \u2018bandwagon fan\u2019. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re new \u2013 you\u2019re here to support the team. And that\u2019s about it.\u201d \u201cAll throughout the playoffs, the energy … kept getting stronger from when we first made [the finals], to even when we lost [Games 2 and 5]. I feel that everyone\u2019s just been so positive,\u201d said Mark Browne, a lifelong Toronto resident. \u201cI can tell my kids, when they get older, that I was around and witnessed history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words stem from a report by The Guardian<\/a>, with NPR<\/a> and many, many more also reporting on what was one of the most famous evenings in the history of Canadian sports last night. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, allow us to explain: the Toronto Raptors are the NBA champions for the first time after defeating the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the 2019 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Getting it done<\/h3>\n

It still feels like a dream for a lot of Canadian sports fans, but it’s true. The Raptors began this season as a team to watch, but it’s safe to say that people were still favouring the Warriors to be the ones to go all the way and win the title once again. After all, it has become something of a routine for them at this stage to reach the Finals, and it has become even more of a routine for them to win it.<\/p>\n

However, off the back of key injuries to the likes of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, Steph Curry just wasn’t able to take them that extra mile on this occasion. They’ve tasted defeat at this point of the season before, but this one will still sting.<\/p>\n

The next level<\/h3>\n

Two names that have really been able to shine through in Toronto’s hour of need are Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard. Both men have been able to take this team to heights that were previously thought impossible, and yet, here we are. As the first quote suggests you don’t even need to have been a dedicated fan for years and years to appreciate this win, because that’s the beauty of sports. Sure, you get bandwagon fans here and there, but the important thing is that the city of Toronto deserves a moment on this scale.<\/p>\n

This is their first championship, and there is never going to be one that tastes quite as sweet as this. Some have suggested they don’t have the power and skill required to keep pushing forward and create a dynasty, but of course, they’ve been underestimated before. They thrive on being seen as the underdogs, because it gives them the chance to prove everyone wrong all over again.<\/p>\n

For now, though, the Raptors will be known as one thing and one thing only: champions of the world. Go and enjoy it, folks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou have fans that have been around for 24 years and you have fans that have been around for two weeks. Everyone\u2019s coming together and they\u2019re having a good time. That\u2019s all that really matters,\u201d said Sara MacLennan-Nobrega, a self-identified \u2018bandwagon fan\u2019. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re new \u2013 you\u2019re here to support the team. […]","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canada","category-nba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nToronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship - Betting.ca News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship - Betting.ca News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYou have fans that have been around for 24 years and you have fans that have been around for two weeks. Everyone\u2019s coming together and they\u2019re having a good time. That\u2019s all that really matters,\u201d said Sara MacLennan-Nobrega, a self-identified \u2018bandwagon fan\u2019. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re new \u2013 you\u2019re here to support the team. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Betting.ca News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-14T15:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ava Tremblay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ava Tremblay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ava Tremblay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f973e94ced5c25ebc1163a6b3da434b8\"},\"headline\":\"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-14T15:00:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship\"},\"wordCount\":532,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Canada\",\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship\",\"name\":\"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship - Betting.ca News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-14T15:00:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f973e94ced5c25ebc1163a6b3da434b8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"toronto raptors celebrate winning nba final 2019\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Betting.ca News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f973e94ced5c25ebc1163a6b3da434b8\",\"name\":\"Ava Tremblay\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bf3e7048064ea92a38d30ff72d661a62094cff7f2aac5cfd050e49ff92a5f488?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bf3e7048064ea92a38d30ff72d661a62094cff7f2aac5cfd050e49ff92a5f488?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bf3e7048064ea92a38d30ff72d661a62094cff7f2aac5cfd050e49ff92a5f488?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ava Tremblay\"},\"description\":\"Hello, My name is Ava. I am a keen sports enthusiast and enjoying not only watching but also playing a variety of them throughout the year. Ones that I particularly enjoy are reflected in the posts I tend to write about, stemmed from my experience in college athletics, coverage for the NBA and keen attendee of the Olympics.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/author\\\/ava-tremblay\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship - Betting.ca News","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship - Betting.ca News","og_description":"\u201cYou have fans that have been around for 24 years and you have fans that have been around for two weeks. Everyone\u2019s coming together and they\u2019re having a good time. That\u2019s all that really matters,\u201d said Sara MacLennan-Nobrega, a self-identified \u2018bandwagon fan\u2019. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re new \u2013 you\u2019re here to support the team. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship","og_site_name":"Betting.ca News","article_published_time":"2019-06-14T15:00:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":380,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ava Tremblay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ava Tremblay","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship"},"author":{"name":"Ava Tremblay","@id":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f973e94ced5c25ebc1163a6b3da434b8"},"headline":"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship","datePublished":"2019-06-14T15:00:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship"},"wordCount":532,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg","articleSection":["Canada","NBA"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship","url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship","name":"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship - Betting.ca News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-14T15:00:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f973e94ced5c25ebc1163a6b3da434b8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/toronto-raptors-celebrate-winning-nba-final-2019.jpg","width":380,"height":250,"caption":"toronto raptors celebrate winning nba final 2019"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-raptors-win-their-first-nba-championship#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Toronto Raptors Win Their First NBA Championship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/","name":"Betting.ca News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.betting.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f973e94ced5c25ebc1163a6b3da434b8","name":"Ava Tremblay","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf3e7048064ea92a38d30ff72d661a62094cff7f2aac5cfd050e49ff92a5f488?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf3e7048064ea92a38d30ff72d661a62094cff7f2aac5cfd050e49ff92a5f488?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf3e7048064ea92a38d30ff72d661a62094cff7f2aac5cfd050e49ff92a5f488?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ava Tremblay"},"description":"Hello, My name is Ava. I am a keen sports enthusiast and enjoying not only watching but also playing a variety of them throughout the year. Ones that I particularly enjoy are reflected in the posts I tend to write about, stemmed from my experience in college athletics, coverage for the NBA and keen attendee of the Olympics.","url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/author\/ava-tremblay"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}