It turns out that a lot more was riding on that first round Game 7 matchup between the Pacers and the Raptors than we may have known.
According to a report by Zach Lowe of ESPN on Wednesday, Toronto would have fired head coach Dwane Casey had they failed to win their playoff series against Indiana.
The Raptors lost Game 1 at home that series and needed all seven games to dispose of an underdog Pacers team. From there, however, they went on to knock off the Miami Heat in the second round (also in seven games), and now sit two more wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals away from the first NBA Finals berth in franchise history.
Casey, for his part, appears to have won a significant measure of job security by leading Toronto on this deep playoff run. But prior to this season, he was widely seen as a subpar head coach who could have gotten his walking papers at any time.
But credit to Casey for stepping up his coaching game big-time these playoffs. And given that Frank Vogel, the losing head coach of the Raptors-Pacers series, ultimately did get that fate of being let go by his team, Casey definitely has to be glad that he did.
H/T Bleacher Report
