It sure is a good thing that Monty Williams, the New Orleans Pelicans head coach, doesn’t have to go north of the border. The rise of the Toronto Raptors over the past two seasons has excited their fan base, and made playing above the border one of the toughest things to do. In the playoffs, the fans are especially passionate.
Last season when the Raptors took on the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were impressed with the atmosphere which the crowd provided for the series. This season, Pierce is playing the Raptors again, only with a different team. His new Wizards teammates are getting a taste of just how faithful the Raptors’ fan base is. Bradley Beal said the Air Canada Centre’s atmosphere is better than that of the Chicago Bulls’ United Center to CSN Washington’s J. Michael.
“It made the United Center seem small, honestly,”
Clearly the Air Canada Centre is tough to play in for opposing teams, and it is louder than other arenas. Beal thought the crowd was very active in game one, and said the whole crowd was even singing the National Anthem.
“Just how loud it was, fans were active. When they have somebody to sing the national anthem but the whole crowd sings it? It gets real in there.”
An estimated 8,000 fans were outside the ‘Jurassic Park’ to watch the game on the big screen, and inside the arena there was a sellout of 19,800 fans to watch the game. The teams Global Ambassador, Drake, was not at the game; He was in California to perform at the Coachella Music Festival. He will be back in his hometown to watch game two from his usual courtside seat right next to the Raptors bench though.
“We expected that,” Beal said of Drake being at the game. “We just got to be prepared for another coach on the sideline.”
Drake is kind of like another coach for the Raptors according to Beal. The presence of the Global Ambassador just raises the stakes of the game. Game two of the series will be played tonight at 8:00 P.M. Washington won game one of the series 93-86 in an overtime game. The Raptors need to repay their fans for being so great by getting a win, while the Wizards look to take the series home to Washington with a 2-0 series lead over the Raptors.
