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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - Two years ago the Raptors narrowly missed out on an exclusive opportunity, one that's as valuable as it can be demoralizing: the chance to have their tails handed to them by LeBron James.

If Paul Pierce had mistimed his jump, if Kyle Lowry's runner had fallen, if Toronto got the two points it needed to advance past Brooklyn in an opening round series that went the distance, James and his Miami Heat - the eventual NBA champions - were waiting.

The result would have been predictable. 

It's become a rite of passage in the Eastern Conference, if you're lucky enough, and obviously good enough to get that far. There are few certainties in the NBA, but if you want to get to the Finals you can bet on running into the King.

On Friday, more than 24 months later, the Raptors became his latest casualty, and there's no shame in that. LeBron's teams, the Heat and now the Cavaliers, have won 18 straight playoff series' against the East. For all the talk of the conference's improvement this year, its balance, Cleveland made quick work of its intra-conference competition, improving to 12-2 in the post-season with its series-clinching 113-87 victory over Toronto.

Despite losing its three road games by a combined 88 points, Toronto pushed the Cavs harder and further than most had anticipated going in, pulling out a couple of wins on home soil. There was never a good reason to believe the Raptors - or anybody from this side of the bracket - would stop them, but there's only one way to prepare for the challenge. You've got to get there and take their best punch. You've got to experience it.

"The last couple years - the first year in the playoffs, last year in the playoffs and this year - are steps our program is taking with our guys," Dwane Casey had said earlier in the series. "Last year was a huge learning experience, very painful, this year was a very different learning experience - winning the first round in seven games, having to go to seven games in the second round and going to the Conference Finals. 

"Every time you go through this you learn, you grow and you improve. You learn the level you've got to play at, the execution you've got to have, the attention to detail you have to have the [further] you go in the playoffs. All of that is great learning experience for all our guys."

It's not something that can be simulated. Most of this Raptors' core got its first taste of the post-season in that Brooklyn series - a learning experience in and of itself. Then there was the sweep to Washington - a wakeup call, a cold shower and a reminder that nothing about playoff basketball comes easy. They've taken the next step this year, accomplishing just about every reasonable goal they set for themselves entering the campaign, and then some.

Friday's was their 102nd game of the season, 20th of the playoffs. They were playing basketball into late-May. For the Cavs, that would hardly be a cause for celebration. It would be a failure, in fact, but what this series reminded us, more than anything else, is the Raptors aren't the Cavs. Cleveland is a better, more talented team to be sure, but there's more to it. As long as LeBron is wearing the wine and gold, the expectation is that they'll be competing for championships. He's set that precedent. So have the Warriors and the Thunder and the Spurs. 

The Raptors are the new kids on the block. They're not at that level and, although they're striving to be, that last step is the hardest one to take. It's pretty remarkable that they're even within striking distance of the NBA's giants given where they've come from. Three years ago they were on the verge of tearing down their foundation and tanking for Andrew Wiggins. Rudy Gay, their most expensive player, had been moved and Kyle Lowry was supposed to be next out the door when they caught lightning in a bottle. Just about everything they've accomplished since has been a first.

Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, like the Raptors organization, had never won a best-of-seven, now they have two under their belt. This post-season has been anything but smooth sailing for Toronto's All-Star duo. They've both been humbled, they've both been vindicated, humbled again, then vindicated again, and so on and so forth.

Through it all, what have they learned?

"Don't lose Game 1," said Lowry, drawing some laughs. They dropped the opener in all three series, to Indiana, Miami and then to Cleveland. "Seriously, that's truthful. Don't lose Game 1."

"It gets harder," DeRozan answered. "It gets extremely harder every step of the way. Nothing gets easier at all. That's one thing that's much different from the season - one day you could play a top-notch team and the next day you could play a team that's not so good, but [in the playoffs] every single day is tougher than the last."

By the time you reach the end, there's almost no margin for error. That's something the Raptors should have taken from their embarrassing 38-point Game 5 loss as much or more than their wins in Games 3 and 4. There's a learning curve to playing through the physical and mental toll that comes with the grind of a long post-season run. By putting themselves in an early hole and failing to seize the moment in the first two rounds, as Lowry alluded to, they played 20 games in 42 days.

"You're locked in heavy on everything you do," said DeRozan. "I'll wake up at nights in a panic thinking I missed something but a lot of times it'll just but 6:00 in the morning. It's just the mental aspect of it."

There are some who will point to the standings and argue that Toronto, the East's second seed, was supposed to make it this far but that's not always the way it works in professional sports, and certainly not in the NBA. You have to learn to walk before you can run.

The Raptors can and should be proud of what they've done here. This was, unequivocally, the best season in their 21-year history. From the addition of their D-League team, which helped expedite the growth of their young players, including Norman Powell, to hosting the All-Star Game, which featured both Lowry and DeRozan, who both enjoyed career years. From a franchise-record 56 regular-season wins to their first ever trip to the Conference Finals.

"We've grown a tremendous amount," said first-year Raptor Cory Joseph, who is one of just three Toronto players that had played in a Conference Finals game prior to this season. "Obviously without experience you don't know what to expect. Experience brings knowledge and now we know what it takes and we know what we're going to have to do to get back in this situation and what it takes to move on from this situation. 

"So we know we're going to need to be better as a team next year and we'll be ready next year. Obviously it hurts right now, being so close and not being able to get over the hump but we went through our growing paints throughout this season and throughout this playoffs. We were able to do better than what everyone expected, which is a plus, but we'll definitely be back next year, harder."

Unlike last year, and even the year before, there was no sour taste when it was all said and done. There were no what ifs? Only one team can be the last standing. Everyone else, at some point, bows out.

"There are 29 losers," Masai Ujiri said after the loss, and he's right.

Simply put, the Raptors were outmatched by a better team but, on the way to inevitable defeat, they got a chance to measure themselves on the biggest stage they've been on, against a program that's enjoyed the sustained success they hope to emulate. 

"It’s a learning experience for our guys," Casey said. "It's the first time they've been here. That group had been there before. They were there last year, and they'll have the opportunity again this year.

"We're learning. We're not where they are right now. We're going to be. This summer is a big summer of working for our players in specific areas. That's going to help. But this experience, and I've said it all year, this year was a great learning experience for all of us."

For the guys in the trenches that should go a long way, while it will almost certainly help Masai Ujiri evaluate what's needed to get his team to the next level heading into a crucial off-season, one that will see DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo hit free agency.

"The next couple years our team will be able to build from this," said Casey. "This is a great step that nobody counted us to go through this year to learn from, to draw from going forward."

They'll have some tough decisions to make. Just about everything they've done over the last two years has been with this moment in mind - getting here, that is - now they'll have 12 months to ensure they're better prepared if they're fortunate, and worthy enough to make it back.