November 3, 1995: The NBA Returns to Canada

Tracy Murray (left) and Ed O'Bannon

November 3, 1995: After having a team in the 1st season of the league that would become the NBA, the 1946-47 Toronto Huskies, Canada regains representation in the league, 48 years later. The expansion Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies each play their 1st game.

It went pretty well for the Raptors, the 1st team in North American major league sports to give themselves a dinosaur-themed name: They beat the New Jersey Nets, 94-79 at the SkyDome. Alvin Robertson led them with 30 points.

Their 1st season was typically bad for an expansion team, but not historically bad: 21-61. They played at the SkyDome, now named the Rogers Centre, until 1999, when the Air Canada Centre, now named the Scotiabank Arena, opened. They won the NBA Championship in 2019. Their only other appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals has been in 2016.

The Grizzlies also won their opener, beating the Portland Trail Blazers, 92-80 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Benoit Benjamin led them with 29 points. Three days later, on November 6, they played their 1st home game, and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-98.

Theodore "Blue" Edwards

They were almost historically bad, though, only going 15-67. They played at General Motors Place, which had just opened as their 1st home, and as a replacement for the Pacific Coliseum as the home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. In 2001, they topped out at 23-59, but hadn't made the Playoffs in 6 seasons. With low attendance, they moved to Memphis, where they have still struggled, but, at least, they haven't had to compete with a hockey team for Canadian fans' attention.

UPDATE: Through the 2025-26 season, the Raptors do not have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired one number, 15, for 1998-2004 guard Vince Carter. Carter, 1997-2000 guard Tracy McGrady, 2003-10 center Chris Bosh, and brief Raptors Chauncey Billups (guard, 1998) and Hakeem Olajuwon (center, 2001-02) have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Lenny Wilkens had already been elected before serving as their head coach, 2000-03.

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November 3, 1995 was a Friday. All 28 NBA teams were in action on this night. Here are the results of the other 12 games:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-100 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 101-100 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. This was the Celtics' 1st regular-season game at the new arena, although not their 1st home game at an arena other than the Boston Garden. Early in their history, they played a few games at the Boston Arena, which became Northeastern University's Matthews Arena. And from 1975 to 1978, and again from 1980 to 1995, they played a few "home games" at the Hartford Civic Center, now the PeoplesBank Arena, in Hartford, Connecticut.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Bullets, 105-103 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 111-106 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-88 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets, 105-91 at the United Center in Chicago. Michael Jordan scored 42 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-92 at The Summit in Houston. It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 103-97 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 112-94 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-106 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Kevin Johnson scored 39 in defeat for the Suns.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 98-96 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 95-86 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 7-4 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* The New York Islanders lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the aforementioned GM Place (Rogers Arena).