TORONTO — 11:40 p.m.
Fans in Toronto’s Jurassic Park were in agony as the Raptors came back to take the lead late in the fourth quarter only to fall to the Warriors.
Some fans clasped their hands in prayer, others bounced nervously on their feet.
The crowd went quiet as one final buzzer-beating attempt to steal the game by Kyle Lowry went wide.
Toronto will now have to travel to Oakland, Calif., for Game 6 on Thursday.
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10:22 p.m.
Many who are watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals have taken to social media to vent their anger at what they’re calling “classless” acts of some Raptors fans.
Their comments are aimed at fans who cheered after Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant got injured and fell to the floor.
Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Danny Green waved their hands to try to get the fans to stop.
“Toronto cheering because Kevin Durant got injured has gotta be a top-10 classless move in NBA History,” tweeted one user.
“Damn I thought Canadians were nice, they started cheering for an injured Kevin Durant,” wrote another.
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9:55 p.m.
While thousands crowd Toronto’s downtown core to cheer on the home team, some Raptors fans are watching from farther afield.
There’s an official Jurassic Park viewing party tonight in Rockford, Illinois — hometown of Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet.
The event began two hours before tip-off and includes a DJ and a “FVV pop-up shop.”
The NBA has said other Jurassic Park-style viewing parties are being held in countries including Brazil, Japan, Mexico and the Philippines.
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9:25 p.m.
Hockey icon Wayne Gretzky is among the celebrities at Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors.
Other big Canadian names among the 20,000 cheering fans at the Scotiabank Arena are “Schitt’s Creek”‘s father-and-son duo Eugene Levy and Dan Levy, tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, and soccer player Jonathan de Guzman.
And Drake, of course, who is the Raptors’ global ambassador.
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8:55 p.m.
Nearly 20,000 Toronto Raptors fans inside the Scotiabank Arena have erupted into O Canada as Game 5 of the NBA Finals is set to get underway.
They were joined in singing the national anthem by thousands of boisterous fans gathered in the Jurassic Park fan zone outside the arena and around the country.
The Raptors have a 3-1 lead over the two-time defending champions Golden State Warriors and could win their first championship tonight.
The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by Grammy-winning R&B singer Monica, best known for her chart-topping duet “The Boy is Mine” with Brandy.
Canadian singers usually perform O Canada but the NBA invited Raptors fans to sing the anthem tonight.
The Canadian Press
