TORONTO, ON – MAY 01: Cory Joseph #6 of the Toronto Raptors celebrates late in the second half of Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Indiana Pacers during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at the Air Canada Centre on May 01, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

The few crumbs of vexed playoff history the Toronto Raptors can lay claim to were on ominous display before their final match-up against the Indiana Pacers: Two Game 7s. Two last-second misses. Two charmed seasons culminating in heartbreak.

DeMar DeRozan, who finished Game 7 with 30 points on 32 shots, set the evening’s stakes after Game 6’s 101-83 loss when he told reporters, “the season would be a failure if we don’t make it out of this first round.”

It wasn’t perfect, nor was it pretty. But the Raptors put the Indiana Pacers away, 89-84, and displayed, in fragmented moments, something they’d never illustrated in their playoff lives: Resilience.

Kyle Lowry, clearly bothered by his injured elbow, snatched rebounds beyond his gravitational range, feasting off the spoils of Bismack Biyombo’s and Jonas Valanciunas’ dogged fingertips clamouring for the ball. Cory Joseph, never off-kilter and always on message, darted between picks and probed through seven-footers, easing the game’s most frenzied moments with a steady dose of patience. Norman Powell, a surgical menace, “Mr. Serious” drilled three triples and stifled Paul George. Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Toronto held a 16-point lead.

And yet, the iron-clad triumph of defeating a team fighting for its life was subdued, thanks to a near-collapse. Casey, despite all his rotational ingenuity this series — 53 (!!!) lineup combinations in seven games —saw Indiana cut the lead to 12 and made matters worse by checking DeRozan and Valanciunas back into the game. The court shrunk, Indiana ratcheted up the ball pressure, and Toronto scored a mere 11 points in the final twelve minutes. Valanciunas allowed little resistance, turning the paint into a layup for Indiana’s guards. With 2:31 left to play, the Pacers cut the deficit to three.

TORONTO, ON - MAY 01:  DeMar Derozan #10 of the Toronto Raptors shoots the ball as Monta Ellis #11 and Ian Mahinmi #28 of the Indiana Pacers defend in the second half of Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at the Air Canada Centre on May 01, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – MAY 01: DeMar Derozan #10 of the Toronto Raptors shoots the ball as Monta Ellis #11 and Ian Mahinmi #28 of the Indiana Pacers defend in the second half of Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at the Air Canada Centre on May 01, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

DeRozan, for all his flawed production, iced the game with two free throws in the final seconds and the Raptors escaped with a five-point lead. The final buzzer sounded, Jurassic Park erupted alongside the Air Canada Center. Catharsis, bittersweet, was a mere sigh of relief, the breath of fresh air you take when it’s 1:00 a.m. on Monday and you’ve completed one of the two term papers you have due in the morning.

The Raptors won their first series in 14 years, the second-longest drought in the league behind Milwaukee. It was the first seven-game series they won in franchise history. That is, by definition, a success. At the same time, they only did what they were supposed to do. That this is a refreshing change of pace for these Raptors is a problem in its own right. The cognitive dissonance is perceptible: The team, as constructed, has been a colossal playoff disappointment, but any modicum of success can set franchise records. Last season, they fell apart after the All-Star break, displaying all the flaws that would get them swept from the playoffs… and set a franchise record in wins.

Like “Panda” by Desiigner playing on the jumbotron — a mere two days after Drake’s Views dropped, mind you — during the intro highlights titled “Welcome to the 6,” there was something unnatural about watching the Raptors play like a functional offensive unit. Success, in most domains, is a battle against instinct. It’s the ability to circumvent the couch. Watching the Raptors do this was like waiting for a ever-stretching elastic to snap. They spent three quarters crashing against the cage of their own limitations. How soon until they’d give into their worst inclinations?

Every problem scales back to the cradle. The team that tried to begin a rebuild in earnest in 2013 by trading Rudy Gay, two years later, failed upward into a Game 7 victory. For a starved fanbase, the memories are worth it, but the structural composition of this team is a constant reminder that none of this was supposed to happen. Lowry wasn’t supposed to stay, let alone fuel the team to the playoffs. Terrence Ross isn’t supposed to swing the ball. Valanciunas isn’t supposed to protect the rim, and Biyombo isn’t supposed to play ahead of him.

For that matter, the Raptors weren’t supposed to win with a 10-for-32 outing from DeRozan, to cap a series in which both its stars couldn’t buy a basket. Toronto shot 38 percent from the floor, to Indiana’s 46. It came down to offensive rebounds — a steady mix of ability and desire. They twisted. Sometimes, they grovelled. But in the end, they clung on to those loose balls for dear life, scoring 17 second-chance points.

So here the Raptors are again. Scaling the top of their own tiny mountain.

The results, either way, likely wouldn’t have engendered a seismic shift to the team’s offseason goals. General manager Masai Ujiri, never one to let an asset go for nothing, would have been just as interested in retaining DeRozan this summer. Coach Dwane Casey, ever the conservative, likely displayed enough ingenuity and risk-taking chops through six games to squeeze through the door for at least another season.

Progressing to the second round was about just that: Progress— or, at least, a veiled illusion of it. “It,” whatever “it” means, is the thing Paul Pierce told them they didn’t have. And it was about Pierce, materializing out of nowhere, swatting Lowr— forget it, you’ve heard this story before. It is, after all, the entire point. When the Raptors won Game 7, they staved off the inevitable retinal flashes that culminate from split-second regret, another disorderly montage of gaping, stunned faces covered by sweaty, floor-burned palms. They’ll spend the offseason thinking about a much more palatable loss and that, as much as I’d like to think it doesn’t, matters.

Until Tuesday, every other question falls away. Winning Game 7 and advancing to the second round was a sobering catharsis, but that doesn’t mean anyone within a square kilometre of the Air Canada Centre should have to be sober.

About Seerat Sohi

Seerat Sohi writes about the NBA for The Comeback, Rolling Stone, Vice and ESPN. Follow her Twitter @DamianTrillard for shrewd body language analysis and not-so-shrewd puns.