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2015 NBA Playoffs: Winners And Losers Of The First Round

By Gerald Bourguet

May 2, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and guard Chris Paul (3) hug after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game seven of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center. Clippers won 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
May 2, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and guard Chris Paul (3) hug after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game seven of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center. Clippers won 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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2015 NBA Playoffs
Apr 26, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) gestures to the crowd from the bench against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 125-94, and won the series 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Winner: Paul Pierce

All hail the master troll and backer-upper of all advanced s**t talking, Paul Pierce. You want the truth, Toronto fans? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH. Before the series, Pierce said the Toronto Raptors didn’t have “it.” He spent the next four games backing that up, providing dagger after dagger to sweep the most disappointing team of the 2015 NBA Playoffs.

Then, as if all those daggers weren’t enough, he took his trolling to social media, declaring himself the King of the North on Facebook. What’s sad is, after such a lackluster series from the Raptors, he wasn’t exactly wrong.

Then he took to Twitter to clown on Drake. All of this came a year after he provided a series-sealing block on the Raptors to secure a Game 7 victory for the Brooklyn Nets. Raptors fans, you have every reason to hate Paul Pierce. Just as long as you’re willing to admit he was right.

Loser: Masai Ujiri

The entire Toronto Raptors organization was a huge loser in these playoffs. There’s no getting around that. Coming off a first-round exit last season and a franchise-record 49 wins this season, this team was expecting more than another first-round exit, especially with home-court advantage.

Unfortunately, an injured Kyle Lowry and a slumping DeMar DeRozan couldn’t get it done. Nobody on the Raptors could defend, Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams disappeared and all in all, it was a completely uncompetitive series.

General manager Masai Ujiri was forced into a corner after the team started competing following the Rudy Gay trade in 2013. He had to roll with the current core and see what their ceiling was. In 2015, we saw what it was. Now the rebuilding has to truly begin before we can consider the Raptors Eastern contenders.

Next: LaMarcus Aldridge: Top 5 Free Agency Destinations

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