Toronto Raptors secured a first-ever NBA title with a game six win over the Golden State Warriors
Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry were top of the Raptors box scores with 26 each. While MVP Kawhi Leonard added 22 points and six rebounds.
Tone
Kyle Lowry set the early tone in the final game at the Oracle Arena with three early threes, scoring the first 11 points for the Raptors and 15 points in the quarter. The injury-ravaged Warriors were slow into stride. Steph Curry had to wait until there were less than 90 seconds left in the first quarter before he got his first three-pointer. He didn’t get another until the third.
The reigning champions have had their injury woes throughout the series. Klay Thompson was added to that list after he tore an ACL. Incredibly Thompson added 30 points in his 32 minutes of court time, including a couple of free throws while injured.
After the slow start, Golden State led in second-quarter briefly, but Raptors retook the lead by halfway.
Steph Curry woke up in the third quarter. Having not scored since the first quarter, Curry was up to 17 points by the start of the final period.
Battle
Warriors led going into the fourth. The game ebbed and flowed and the teams were tied four times in the last quarter. Golden State got to 100 first but Toronto struck back quickly to lead 108 -102 with two minutes left. Dramond Green cut that back to three.
It was a 1 point game with less than twenty seconds left on the clock. Pascal Siakam got a two to give the Raptors some breathing space. Steph hit the rim with a three-point effort in what would surely have tied the series, but Raptors secured possession, Leonard got the ball and two more points after the turnover. Despite a technical foul call to dampen the immediate celebrations, again Leonard stepped up and that secured a first-ever NBA title for Toronto.
MVP
Kawhi was named MVP for the series. The Klaw will be a free agent this summer but didn’t want to look too far into the future. In the immediate aftermath of the win, he said "I'm going to enjoy this with my team-mates and coaches, and I'll think about that later."
The future for Leonard is intriguing as to what direction he will go. It’s a change for the Warriors too who leave Oakland to go west to San Francisco, but today the call is “We the North” as celebrations continue in Toronto.
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