Section 215
Fansided

Raptors advancing to NBA Finals another crushing blow for 76ers

By Dan Parzych

TORONTO, ON - MAY 12: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors speaks with Jimmy Butler #23 of the Philadelphia 76ers after sinking a buzzer beater to win Game Seven of the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 12, 2019 in Toronto, 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. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 12: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors speaks with Jimmy Butler #23 of the Philadelphia 76ers after sinking a buzzer beater to win Game Seven of the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 12, 2019 in Toronto, 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. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Philadelphia 76ers can’t help but wonder what could have been after watching the Toronto Raptors punch their ticket to the NBA Finals Saturday night.

Just when it seemed like the playoffs couldn’t get any more difficult for the Philadelphia 76ers and their fans to deal with, the Toronto Raptors managed to win Game 6 over the Milwaukee Bucks to advance to the NBA Finals.

A few weeks later, it’s still crazy to think about how close the Sixers were to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals after Kawhi Leonard dropped one of the craziest buzzer beats in NBA history in Game 7 of the semifinals.

Even more frustrating, when looking at how poorly Milwaukee looked at times during the final four games of the Eastern Conference Finals, the argument can be made that Philadelphia would have been able to give the Bucks a run for their money.

Related Story. 3 potential in-house replacements for Chris Long. light

Of course, the Sixers have no one to blame other than themselves for coming up short the way they did against the Raptors since the opportunities were there on numerous occasions.

Whether it was having an advantage in the series by being up 2-1 before losing in seven games or simply the fact that certain players like Joel Embiid failed to come through at times, words can’t even describe how frustrating it was to watch Philadelphia come up short the way they did.

And now that Toronto has an opportunity to be crowned NBA champions for the 2018-19 season if they can manage to take down the Golden State Warriors, it’s going to be make things even more difficult for the Sixers to accept in regards to wondering what could have been.

Not to say that Philadelphia would be able to take down Golden State since there’s a reason Steve Kerr‘s squad continues to build one of the best dynasties, but it still would have been great to see how the Sixers matched up against the defending champions.

The whole point of acquiring Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris in the middle of this season was to give Embiid and Ben Simmons the necessary star talent to be able to make a deep run in the Eastern Conference.

As exciting as it was to watch the Sixers make it all the way to Game 7 against the Raptors, it was beyond frustrating to watch them fail to advance past the semifinals since this was no different from the year before.

To top it off, just imagine how difficult it’s going to be for Philadelphia to accept Toronto defeating Golden State if the Raptors happen to take down the Warriors.

Because if the Sixers had difficult wondering what could have been during the Eastern Conference Finals, just imagine what they’ll feel like if the Raptors end up hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.