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#DrakeNight Recap

Matt Tierney - Raptors.com

Yesterday marked the Raptors third annual Drake Night. A case could be made for it being renamed to Drake Day with festivities starting as early as 7 a.m. Beginning with the now infamous "Hotline Bling" box, to fan giveaways and the man of the hour in attendance, all eyes were north of the border. Of course there was still a game to be played and the Raptors capped off a successful day with a solid victory over the Eastern Conference leading Cavaliers. Here is a short breakdown of the day as it unfolded.

HOTLINE BLING

In case you are not up to date with the current music scene, Drake recently released his hit single, "Hotline Bling," where he showed off some much publicized dance moves that quickly went viral. It being Drake Night, the thought was why not build a custom Hotline Bling Box and have fans show off their dance moves. Our own Kat Stefankiewicz figured she'd be the first one to try it out, but Norm Kelly , a.k.a the 6Dad, beat her to it. Check it out.

If you were lucky enough to be in attendance yesterday and got a chance to do your best Drake imitation, your video most likely made it on our Vine #HotlineBlingBooth playlist HERE.

News of the booth quickly spread via the world wide web and across the twitterverse. Here are some of the major media outlets' reactions to the unique opportunity.

DRAKE NIGHT THREADS

As is tradition, there was OVO inspired giveaways for every fan in attendance. Each person received both a long sleeve shirt plus a sweatband. Take a look.

The fans weren't the only one's donning new threads on the night, as the Raptors debuted their OVO inspired black and gold alternate jerseys for the first time.

Masai Ujiri and the Raptors also had a gift for Drake himself when they presented their Global Ambassador with this custom jacket.

After all the festivities, it was time for NBA Basketball. The Raptors had a tough matchup in front of them as they were up against LeBron James and last year's Eastern Conference Champion Cavalier team. Norm Kelly was trying to fire Raptors fans up pregame and Drake was in his usual courtside seats accompanied by his mother who was his date on the night.

An exciting day was capped off fittingly with a Raptors victory, improving the team's record to 10-6 on the season and a perfect 3-0 on Drake Night. There were inspired performances by Kyle Lowry, Luis Scola and Bismack Biyombo who was filling in for the injured Jonas Valanciunas.

Who knows what is in store for Drake Night next year but no matter what, another Raptors win will do just fine for everyone involved.

#WeTheNorth