Montreal

Montreal gets its own Jurassic Park to cheer on Raptors

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Hundreds of fans lined Peel Street downtown to watch the Raps fall by 1 point

Fans watch Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors at a viewing party in Montreal on Monday, June 10, 2019. (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)

The buzz and hype around the Toronto Raptors is showing no signs of dying down — even here in Montreal.

Hundreds of fans lined Peel Street downtown to watch the Raptors take on the Golden State Warriors outdoors in a game that could have gone down in history, had the team become the first from Canada to win an NBA title.

And while some thought it extremely bizarre that a Montreal street would be shut down for a watch party in honour of a team from — gasp — Toronto, many fans said this team goes beyond the typical Montreal-Toronto rivalry.

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"I've been a Raptors fan all my life since I started watching basketball maybe when I was eight or nine years old. I remember when they used to play on Sunday afternoons at 12. Now to see this, one game away from a championship. It's amazing," said fan Mike Lisella.

The Raptors are still a game away from that title after falling 106-105 to the Warriors at home Monday night. They are up 3-2 on the defending champions.

Game 6 goes Thursday in Oakland, Calif., at 9 p.m. It is unclear whether the street will be closed that game too.

How do you defeat Thanos? How do you defeat Kawhi Leonard? Both valid questions. (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)

How Montreal's Jurassic Park came to be

The stretch of Peel, between Sherbrooke and Cypress streets, was closed over the weekend for Canadian Grand Prix festivities.

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Alain Creton, head of the Peel Street Merchants' Association and the owner of restaurant Chez Alexandre, said Stéphane Gauvin, the promoter responsible for the paddocks along Peel during the Grand Prix, reached out to him about extending the closure of Peel for the basketball game.

Alain, Jérémie and Claude Creton ahead of a big night on Peel Street. Alain is the head of the Peel Street Merchants' Association and the owner of restaurant Chez Alexandre. (Sarah Leavitt/CBC)

Within a couple hours, they had co-ordinated everything with the city and police, he said.

"It's just a beautiful coincidence that the street was already closed," Creton said.

with files from Colin Harris