The rarest nights in Canada: The Raptors Conference's victory in the East unites a city, at least a moment

About 90 minutes after the Toronto Raptors won the biggest game in their recent (and not very recent) memory, there was no hustle and bustle outside the Scotiabank Arena.

As you walk through the city center, that's when it all started. You could hear the howls from afar. And that did not stop long.

It was past midnight, but thousands of people were jumping on the sidewalks in the streets. Strangers spontaneously embraced other strangers. The cars honked as if the tsunami were coming from one minute to the next and they had to go up.

The intersection of King Street and John Street had been invaded by an improvised dance party. The trams were saved one block away. The pilots made three-point turns. The two policemen who managed the intersection were trying very hard not to see the hundreds of dancers at ten meters. Sometimes small laws do not apply.

The Raptors beat Milwaukee Bucks 100-94 on Saturday night in the sixth game of the NBA Conference finals to qualify for the league championship for the first time in their history. The first game of this best-of-seven series will take place Thursday in Toronto against the Golden State Warriors.

It was the rarest night in Canada and perhaps the best – a spontaneous sport eruption.

In normal cities, these are reserved for victory in the championships. Toronto is not normal in this respect and therefore can not be difficult.

The Toronto Raptors go to the NBA finals. What an unusual phrase. It's enough for this city. They arrived in the manner of the secretariat – leaving their opponent a not insignificant lead, then winking with their eyes when they doubled.

Really, that should not have happened. Not in this world. The Toronto teams are known for many things: chat, profitability and they are built to fall back automatically. Milwaukee had pressed all the players he had played all year. The Raptors had more than a few chances to quit and sneak up each time.

Towards the end of the third quarter of the sixth match, they lost 15 points. I was booking a flight to Milwaukee for the deciding match. That's when a voice told me, "If you build it, it will come. In addition, this flight is non-refundable, stupid. "

That's when Kawhi Leonard arrived. After returning to the breach on the Bucks, the rest of the Raptors piled up. The band of them repelled Milwaukee for eight remarkable minutes.

Subsequently, Raptor President Masai Ujiri called Mr. Leonard "best player in the league". Mr. Leonard – a man as stoic as Zeno would have found dry, was standing next to Mr. Ujiri with an expression saying, "Did I leave cooking on?

A month ago, this kind of "best of" speech is pure advertising. Right now, it's the result of a week-long scientific study. Mr. Leonard is, right now, when it really matters, the best basketball player alive. He could be the best player at any point anywhere.

Next step – Golden State. Although this is impossible, it could be possible. This guy can do anything. If Mr. Leonard was telling me that he had never flown the space shuttle, but that he wanted to try, I would be everything: "Does he have any keys or is it a startup by pushbutton? For the purpose of flight. "

The history of Toronto (26 years after the appearance of a local team in a major league final); the lack of appearance of victory; The divine appearance of M. Leonard in our midst; the fact that it was Saturday night and nice to the outside – all this brought together to burst a party lasting several hours.

As a culture, we are not doing what you would call festivals. Not the big ones.

What we have now are holidays, which are quiet moments with family and friends. We do not go out on the streets to dance with strangers. It's too pagan for us, civilized.

Some holidays are supposed to offer this option, but they are either oversold (New Year) or zany (St. Paddy's) and still artificial. Sensitive people avoid them.

Because this can not be programmed and there is no guarantee that it will happen again, a great sporting victory fulfills this necessary societal function. It's the release valve on our tight and puritan hearts.

That's the only reason a city dweller can be on his roof screaming at the moon after midnight and not expecting his neighbors to call the cops. Or pop-up to hit him with a golf club.

When I got home, a lot of drivers were trapped by all this frivolity. Not one seemed extinct. Most sat alone and smiled stupidly.

The last time the city itself had had such an important experience was the victory of the Blue Jays at the World Championships in 1992 and 1993. Sidney Crosby, who won a gold medal in men's hockey for Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, had the same effect on the country. That is, it is an event that occurs once or twice per generation in the surrounding area. Comets come more often.

For most innocent lunatics running in the street, it was a while. For some, it was an indelible first. They would talk to their children.

Despite the presence of thousands of spectators celebrated on the streets, the Toronto police said it was "impressive" to have stopped anyone after the historic Raptors victory on Saturday night.

When I got home – it was now past one o'clock in the morning – my neighbor neighbor, Pedro, was out on his slopes to digest the events of the night. Usually, we exchanged some smudges and went to bed.

Instead, I went in, took out my best jumbo vintage of Wine Rack and sat for two hours talking about the game. Pedro and I play Kawhi dunk and Kyle Lowry, men of Middle age rejuvenated as if by magic.

In the distance, the horns were still going. Although the street is quiet, no one has come to give us the "time to go inside, guys," the deadly look. Around 2 am, someone nearby started to light fireworks. It was glorious and, for me, far more likely to be remembered 20 years apart than what happened in the game. It was like belonging.

Reasonable people do not see much in many things. Maybe most things. The tolerance of this disagreement is what underpins a civil society. Thus, our normal state is that of the benign distance from each other.

But for one night, at least in downtown Toronto, we were all together in something.