It’s round two of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Toronto Raptors, the team with the best record in the NBA, just came off a 6 victory against the Washington Wizards and is now looking to play a 5th seed Cleveland Cavaliers team, a team that lacks depth and character. What should be a victory for the Raptors eventually turns into something unimaginable – a 4 game defeat.

Heading into the offseason, NBA fans were confused. How could a 1st seed, 59 win team be swept by the 5th seed? It was clear changes needed to happen. The question was, what could that change be? For the Raptors front office, the answer was a new coach. In a controversial decision, the Raptors decided to fire coach Dwane Casey and promoted assistant coach Nick Nurse. Additionally, they took advantage of the Spurs selling Kawhi Leonard and traded away Demar DeRozan, Jakob Poetl, and a 2019 first-round pick for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. This trade, while risky, was considered excellent. Demar DeRozan was coming off a postseason averaging a mere 43% shooting and it was clear that he would either need to step up his game or be moved. Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard was an established star, who despite his injury and one season left on his contract, could still have the ability to turn the team around. Danny Green was another X-factor in this trade, as he was a good 3 and D type player. Looking stronger than ever, the Raptors breezed through the regular season, and along the way, picked up Marc Gasol and had Pascal Siakam turn into a great scorer. This team was one of the favorites heading into the postseason. They easily beat the Magic in 5 games, and are currently playing the 76ers. However, we may be seeing history repeat itself. Despite the 76ers being a third-seed team, the Raptors are down 2-1 and heading into Philadelphia for game 4. The Raptors were one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. They have a fundamental center in 3-time all-star, Marc Gasol. They have a candidate for the most improved player in Pascal Siakam. They have all-star and one of the best two-way players, Kawhi Leonard. They have a strong bench featuring Fred VanVleet and defensive monster Serge Ibaka. And they have Kyle Lowry.  They should be winning. Ben Simmons, despite being a great finisher, lacks the ability to shoot well. Jimmy Butler is putting up the lowest points per game in a season since 2014. Philadelphia’s bench is not as good as Toronto’s. Joel Embiid is great, yet Serge and Marc should be able to guard him. While the downfall of Toronto may just be their ‘curse’, we must look at Kyle Lowry. A 5 time and supposedly second best player on Toronto put up 9 points in game 1 and 7 points in game 2. In game 1 against the Magic during the first round, which happened to be the game they lost that series, Lowry put up a hilarious 0 point game. In game 2 of this series, he was anti-clutch, turning the ball over in the closing part of the game. While there are several things that Toronto needs to fix, Lowry is one of the players that absolutely needs to step it up. This was supposed to be the season. But if they lose in the second round yet again, we might not see the Raptors this far in the playoffs in the near future. Kyle Lowry is closing in on 34 years, and more importantly, Kawhi Leonard and an aging Marc Gasol both have player options they can decline this off-season and move to a more promising team. Danny Green’s contract is expiring as well. These players may not resign with the team if their playoff run ends in the second round yet again. Heading into a must-win game 4, Kyle Lowry needs to play better. The future of the Raptors may just lie in his performance.