The outcome of this game (a lopsided win for the Clippers) certainly wasn’t what Raptors fans were hoping for. Facing off against the guy that won them a ring and then bolted for a place that was both more warm and more American, the Raptors definitely wanted to come out and show the world that they don’t need that guy. All they need is the guys they’ve got to win another ring.
In this ideal scenario, Norman Powell would dunk on Kawhi so hard that both of Kawhi’s hamstrings would pop off his bone and flop out onto the court. While Kawhi is crying and moaning and the crowd jeers, Powell would stand over him and flex his muscles and say “I’m the new Kawhi but better because I’m loyal to Canada.” As paramedics frantically tend to Kawhi’s injuries which no amount of load management could have ever prevented (given the seismic force of Powell’s dunk), Powell brings out his championship ring and shows it to Kawhi. Somehow, Kawhi is lucid enough to look on his hand for his own championship ring, but when he touches it with his finger, it crumbles to dust. Paul George stands nearby and weeps because he knows that he will never have a ring like Powell does.
That’s how it should have gone down. Instead, the Raptors lost by twenty and the game wasn’t really close after the second quarter. Kawhi made it off the court uninjured and with his championship ring presumably still intact. Powell did do an acceptable job of scoring a Kawhi-esque amount of points, but convinced nobody that he would be the next Kawhi in Toronto and lead his team to the promised land. He did have a nice dunk at the end of the game, but it generated very little excitement given the numbers on the scoreboard.
Oh well. There’s always next game to dunk Kawhi into an early retirement.