evening, Kawhi Leonard came alive in
the fourth quarter. He scored 10 straight
for Toronto to help erase the last of a
Warriors’ 14-point advantage. With three
minutes left, the Raptors were in front
103-97 and reality—that the franchise
was on the verge of claiming its first title
in history—began to sink in. The crowd at
Scotiabank Arena was as loud as it’s ever
been. The city was ready to rejoice.
It was an emotional roller coaster from
the opening tip, but Golden State some-
how managed to keep their composure.
On the road, backs against the wall, they
responded with a 9-2 run of their own. Ste-
phen Curry and Klay Thompson combined
to hit three treys—part of the Warriors’ 20
total, the second most in an NBA Finals
game ever—and Draymond Green got
his fingertips on Kyle Lowry’s potential
series-ending shot from the corner.
It really was an incredible win, only the
Warriors could hardly enjoy it. Durant had
exited the building on crutches during the
third quarter—his immediate fate, unlike
Golden State’s, sealed.
“Everybody gets so wrapped up in
chasing championships and the great-
ness that you see on the floor, but life is
more important in terms of caring about
an individual and what they’re going
through,” Curry said. “And you see the
commitment and the challenges and just
what’s been thrown at KD this whole
year, really. And he gave us what he had,
he went out there and sacrificed his body,
and we know how it turned out.”—ASGame 6Oracle Arena
Raptors 114, Warriors 110I
F GAME 6 was scripted to be a
Hollywood film, the directors would
have made it ideal for Golden State to
win at home before the series went backto Toronto for Game 7.
Backs against the wall, following
the devastating Kevin Durant injury and
trailing 3-1 in the series, the Dubs pulled
out a comeback win in Toronto, thanks to
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
It would have been fitting to have the
Warriors win on the 2,070th and final
game inside Oracle Arena, the building the
Warriors have won five titles in and called
home for the last 53 years. Prior to tip-off,
the team gave fans yellow rally towels
with “For Oakland” printed on them—the
city’s name divided into two lines with the
“K” and “D” stacked in white lettering to
honor Durant. Thompson would eventually
go down, too, after landing awkwardly on a
dunk attempt. He missed the entire fourth
quarter and later learned he tore his ACL.
But there are no scripts in sports, and
the Raptors prevailed in the end.
In a game that saw 18 lead changes
and nine ties, Curry looked to will his in-
jury-plagued squad to victory but missed
a three to take the lead and force a Game- There was no feel-good ending, as the
Dubs’ dynasty—the one that’s ruled the L
for the last five years—appeared to come
to an end on their home court.
As time expired, the Raptors rushed
the court, celebrating their first-ever NBA
championship since joining the League
in 1995, and hoisted the Larry O’Brien
Trophy at center court. Bill Russell pre-
sented Kawhi Leonard, who finished with
22 points, with the Finals MVP award.
The King of the North joined Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as only
the third player to win the accolade with
multiple teams.
“That was very special,” said Leonard,
who averaged 28.5 ppg and 9.8 rpg in the
Finals. “I didn’t come out in this series
trying to win it—I just kept striving and
pushing, and I ended up with the trophy,
but everybody deserves it.”
Kyle Lowry took whatever criticism he
received for missing the game-winning
shot in Game 5 and made a statement in
the opening quarter, scoring the Raptors’
first 11 points and finishing with 26
points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
“To be able to say ‘I’m a World
Champion,’ it makes me feel great,”
Lowry said during his postgame presser.
“And to do it with the group of guys that
we did it with is amazing, like it’s just kind
of still surreal.”
Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and
Serge Ibaka also finished in double fig-
ures. Siakam solidified his ground as the
MIP, posting a 26-point, 10-rebound per-
formance, and VanVleet scored 12 of his
22 points in the fourth. Ibaka finished with
15 points off the bench, and head coach
Nick Nurse became the first former G
League coach to win an NBA title.
“We got guys who had to get it the
long way, who had to get it out of the
mud, who had to get it against the grain,”
VanVleet added. “But we got some talent,
we got some talent for sure. And at the
end of the day going out there in the play-
offs is about performing at a high level,
and we were able to do that.”—Drew RuizPREVIOUS SPREAD: REY JOSUE III; NATHANIEL S. BUTLER; GREGORY SHAMUS/ALL NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES; THIS SPREAD FROM LEFT: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM; EZRA SHAW/BOTH GETTY IMAGES; ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES; EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES
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