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The shorthanded Golden State Warriors were pushed around by a focused Toronto Raptors squad in Oakland, losing 123-109 to the Eastern Conference champions. Toronto has taken a 2-1 lead and bounced back from losing home court advantage.
Steph Curry was the only Warrior who could consistently get his own shot; he scored a career Finals’ high 47 points, with 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Kawhi Leonard bullied his way to 30 points, while Kyle Lowry (Toronto’s other KL) backed him up with 23 points of his own.
Not gonna lie, as much as I enjoyed Oracle’s faithful rooting on Alfonzo McKinnie and Quinn Cook...woulda been nice to have the injured Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and and Kevon Looney available. But who cares? It’s the Finals: you either win or you take your beating.
That is the way of the champion.
First Half
Oh my goodness, the Warriors missed their wings early on. The Raptors knifed past defenders at will and got any shot they wanted. On the flipside, Curry was relentless, trying to keep the Warriors in the game at all costs.
END OF Q1: Warriors trail the Raptors, 36-29. Curry was sensational, pouring in 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting to go with 3 assists and 6 rebounds. If he gets some more help, perhaps Golden State can pull this thing off.
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) June 6, 2019
But the Raptors wouldn’t give into the pressure, holding on to their lead despite Oracle Arena’s vocal angst.
Cookin' up somethin' spicy pic.twitter.com/ShTbi4bHye
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 6, 2019
With the Warriors defense leaking, their offense couldn’t seize momentum despite Curry’s heroics.
#StephGonnaSteph pic.twitter.com/qgwDCkn3RB
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 6, 2019
Steph Curry scored 25 PTS in the first half, his most in a single half in an #NBAFinals game.
— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2019
The rest of the Warriors have 27 combined points. pic.twitter.com/j2aWgZMHdG
At the half: Warriors trail Raptors 60-52
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) June 6, 2019
Few observations:
-Warriors within 8 is a win.
-It's Curry (25p/8r/4a) ) and not much else.
-Effort good, execution often not
-Need more from Green/Cousins (3 buckets)
-Curry 48% of GSW pts, 40% of its rebs, 36 pct of its assists.
Second Half
The third quarter was the equivalent of Toronto trying to carefully open a viciously shaken bottle of grape soda while wearing a white tuxedo. The Warriors kept trying to explode, and the Raptors defense kept holding it under wraps.
Nine points in seven second quarter minutes for the Warriors. More turnovers (4) than made FGs (3) in the quarter. It's an offensive griiiiiiind right now.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 6, 2019
The Raptors are attacking Cousins relentlessly and it's working
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 6, 2019
96-83 for the Raptors after three. Toronto finally decided to start being themselves.
— Raptors HQ (@RaptorsHQ) June 6, 2019
Toronto continued to work their advantage throughout the fourth quarter, with a full spread of buckets across their squad. Every weakness the Warriors had in personnel, the Raptors pinpointed and took advantage of in brutal efficiency. When the Dubs played great D, Toronto nailed great shots.
The Warriors need at least one of KD and Klay to get back. There's a talent gap that may be insurmountable otherwise.
— Dave DuFour (@DaveDuFourNBA) June 6, 2019
Toronto couldn’t stop Curry, but they didn’t have to. The Dubs defense didn’t get enough stops to let Unanimous’ magical night in Oakland steal the game.
Also, something is up with DeMarcus Cousins lower leg. We’ll wait for the news to bubble up, but he limped to the back in the fourth quarter of a bad night.
Raptors really taking us to some weird bizarro twist on the 2015 Cleveland Finals: we’re down 2-1 in the Finals, except WE have all the injured players. How macabre.