Slam Magazine – September 2019

Game 1 Scotiabank Arena

Raptors 118, Warriors 109

B

Y 2 P.M., more than seven hours

before tip-off of Game 1 of the Fi-

nals, the line for Jurassic Park went

around the block. Fans sat on foldout

chairs and held bags full of snacks. Some

were draped in Canadian or “WE THE

NORTH” flags, others wore black t-shirts

with the now-famous photo of Kawhi

Leonard’s buzzer-beater in Game 7 of the

Eastern semis. There were signs—a lot of

them. One had a picture of a goat, only the

face had been replaced with Leonard’s.

Feeding off the energy of the crowd at

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto got the 118-109

win over Golden State in their first-ever Fi-

nals game. With several franchise legends

in attendance—from Damon Stoudamire

to Tracy McGrady to Chris Bosh—and

Drake rocking a Dell Curry jersey, the

Raptors continued to write history. They

snapped the Warriors’ streak of 12 straight

victories in Game 1s and got a step closer

to realizing a dream that a year ago, when

they were embarrassingly swept by the

Cavaliers, seemed impossibly distant.

It was clear early on that the Dubs

decided to key in on Leonard, who came in

averaging 31.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in

the playoffs. Facing double teams and a

defense that collapsed quickly, he finished

with 23 points on 5-14 from the field. So

the supporting cast picked up the slack.

Power forward Pascal Siakam—the

2019 Most Improved Player—was the

biggest factor in the game, posting 32

points (on 14-17), 8 rebounds, 5 assists

and 2 blocks. He buried a couple threes,

showed off the post moves against Dray-

mond Green and beat the Warriors down

the floor for easy transition layups. His

32 points were the most in a Finals debut

since Kevin Durant (!) in 2012.

“You got to take your hat off to him,”

Draymond said afterward. “Regardless

of this game, you still have to take your

hat off to him, even before this game,

because of what he’s been able to accom-

plish this year. He’s become a guy. He put

a lot of work in to get there and I respect

that. But like I said, I got to take him out

of the series and that’s on me.”

Stephen Curry carried the offense for

Golden State. Fourteen of his game-high

34 points came from the free-throw line,

and he knocked down four shots from

beyond the arc, becoming the first player

ever to reach 100 threes in the Finals.

For much of the evening, it felt like the

Warriors were bound to take over with

one of their legendary second-half runs.

They kept it close enough to strike but

never could.

Even with the Raptors in control, you

could feel the tension up until confetti

was falling. Then it was pure joy.

“The fans are amazing, man,” Siakam

said. “From coming out for warmups to the

end of the game, it was just the support.

I’ve never seen anything like that. I’m just

happy to be a part of it.” —Alex Squadron

Game 2Scotiabank Arena

Warriors 109, Raptors 104

A

FTER SIX quarters of looking

vulnerable, the Golden State

Warriors—the two-time defending

champions we know—finally arrived.

They opened up the second half of Game

2 with one of their patented explosive

runs. 18-0. And that was that.

They were suddenly suffocating on

defense, forcing turnovers and keeping the

Raptors scoreless until the 6:20 mark. The

ball moved seamlessly on offense, creat-

ing open shots and resulting in easy dunks

and layups. When it was all over, when

a Fred VanVleet three at last stopped

the bleeding, a 5-point deficit had been

turned into a 10-point advantage. It was

another not-so-subtle reminder of who the

Warriors are and what they can do, of how

quickly they can make even the best team

in the Eastern Conference appear helpless.

Spurred by the raucous home crowd,

Toronto fought hard to come back, cutting

it to 2 in the final minute. But Andre Ig-

uodala nailed a dagger three-pointer with

5.9 seconds left and Golden State secured

the victory to even the series at 1-1.

“Third quarter—we didn’t play well

enough,” said Raptors point guard Kyle

Lowry, who fouled out after 28 minutes

with 13 points and 2 assists. “We missed

too many shots. They got out in transition

and got a little bit of confidence going.

Third quarter. We lost the game there.”

Everyone shared in the action and

contributed for the Dubs. An absurd

89.5 percent (34-38) of their field goals

were assisted on, including all 22 of their

makes in the second half.

It was Klay Thompson who kept them

in it amid a turbulent first half, dropping

18 of his 25 total points. Stephen Curry

struggled to find his jumper but still

finished with 23 and 3 steals. Draymond

Green (17 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists)

came just shy of his second consecutive

triple-double. DeMarcus Cousins got the

surprise start and made a major impact,

posting 11 points, 10 rebounds and 6

assists. Quinn Cook hit a pair of huge

threes to help the Warriors maintain their

lead late. Andrew Bogut had 6 points in

just 7 minutes, catching impressive lobs

at the rim.

And of course, Iguodala knocked down

the biggest shot of the night.

Strength in numbers. It’s what the

Warriors have preached since day one.

“Coach [Steve Kerr] always talks about

it, that everybody’s going to have a chance

to help us win a championship at some

point, and just to stick with it and be pa-

tient,” Curry said. “It shows itself over the

course of a season, and tonight was huge.

We need three more wins and we need it to

keep going, but that’s a part of who we are

in our DNA, it’s not just what we say.”—AS

Game 3 Oracle Arena

Raptors 123, Warriors 109

S

TEPHEN CURRY provided the

heroics as the Warriors suited up

without the services of Klay Thomp-

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