THE Toronto Raptors will play in the NBA Finals, a Canadian basketball success story 24 years in the making.

Kawhi Leonard poured in 27 points and hauled down a game-high 17 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a thrilling 100-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that clinched the Eastern Conference finals series 4-2.

Kyle Lowry, playing through the constant pain of a sprained thumb, had 17 points and eight assists, and grabbed the game ball after the final buzzer sounded on what was Toronto’s biggest comeback of this post-season.

The road doesn’t get any easier for Toronto. The defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors await after dispatching the Portland Trail Blazers in four games in the west final almost a week ago. The Finals tip off in Toronto on Thursday.

The Raptors were making their second Eastern Conference finals appearance in franchise history, and first since they stole two games off LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers before being ousted in six games in 2016.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri rebuilt this team with the lofty goal of an NBA championship, trading much-loved DeMar DeRozan for Leonard in the off-season and then swapping Jonas Valanciunas for Gasol at February’s trade deadline.

(SD-Agencies)

If fans complained then, they aren’t now.

Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night was a raucous sea of red. The capacity crowd, No. 233 in a row, included Blue Jays Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, former Raptor Bismack Biyombo, former TFC striker Sebastian Giovinco, Canadian actor Mena Massoud, singer Dallas Green, comedian Gerry Dee, and former CFL star Pinball Clemons, among others.

Drake, who’s been a lightning rod in the series since his impromptu shoulder squeeze of coach Nick Nurse in Game 4, wore a black hoodie that read on the back: “Kawhi Me a River.”

A thunderstorm that rolled through the city had threatened the celebrations in Jurassic Park outside the arena, but the area was opened about an hour before tipoff, and quickly filled by the thousands of fans who had stood in the massive line that snaked around the arena, past Union Station and up Yonge Street.

The Raptors dropped the first two games in Milwaukee, but rebounded to win three in a row, including a thrilling 105-99 victory on Thursday at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum that saw Toronto climb out of an 18-4 hole.

Only five teams in NBA history have come back from a 0-2 series deficit to win a conference final. The last time was in 2012, when an Oklahoma City squad that included Serge Ibaka battled back to beat San Antonio.

It was another horrible start for the Raptors, who went four minutes 41 seconds without a basket in the first quarter to trail by eight points. They tied it up with 3:50 to play, but the Bucks closed the quarter with a 15-2 run to lead 31-18 heading into the second.

The Bucks stretched their lead to 15 twice in the second quarter, but a VanVleet three capped a 21-8 Raptors run that pulled them to wihin two points. Milwaukee took a 50-44 lead into the dressing room at halftime.

(SD-Agencies)