Raptors Dethrone Warriors in Six for First NBA Championship

Series Breakdown

05/30: Game 1 - GSW 109 TOR 118 TOR 1-0
06/02: Game 2 - GSW 109 TOR 104 Tied 1-1
06/05: Game 3 - TOR 123 GSW 109 TOR 2-1
06/07: Game 4 - TOR 105 GSW 92 TOR 3-1
06/10: Game 5 - GSW 106 TOR 105 TOR 3-2
06/13: Game 6 - TOR 114 GSW 110 Toronto Raptors 2019 NBA Champions (4-2)!

All things are settled down after an amazing Game 6 last night. The Toronto Raptors are your 2019 NBA Champions as they dethrone the Golden State Warriors in six games, capping off with a 114-110 game 6 thriller in what is effectively the last game in Oracle Arena in Oakland as the Warriors move to their new Chase Center home in San Francisco for next season. As you look at the overview of this series, the home team has won once. This hasn't been done since the 1993 NBA Finals between the Phoenix Suns and the Chicago Bulls. Not only, that it's impressive on the Raptors' part that they won all of their games at Oracle Arena this season. It's never an easy feat to win in that raucous arena, especially against the reigning dynasty Warriors.

Game 1, history was made as it marked the first NBA Finals game to be played outside of the United States. The Warriors were in unfamiliar territory as they have to go on the road to achieve that elusive 3-peat. The Raptors, you wonder about jitters having hosting their first finals game, the pressure was all on them. And they stepped up to the challenge. Pascal Siakam made his case for MIP (Most Improved Player) with 32 points. Marc Gasol stepped up with 20 points. They dominated the Warriors inside the paint. It was a pretty convincing win for a team making its finals debut. Game 2, the Warriors responded like the champions they were. The third quarter was huge for them as they completely blanked the Raptors at the start with an 18-0 run out of the gate. It wasn't until Fred VanVleet's three that Toronto finally put up some points. Nonetheless, the Raptors hung in there. They had a chance with a near interception by Kawhi Leonard at the final seconds. But, the ball bounced back to the Warriors' favor and Andre Iguodala hit a clutch three to seal it. The Raptors leaving Iggy open was controversial. I can understand the rationale to leave him open as he's not a reliable 3-point shooter. But, there was no denying in the big stage, the former Finals MVP can deliver in the clutch for the Warriors.

As the series shifts to Game 3, we first see our glimpses of the Warriors' dynasty cracking as Klay Thompson had to sit out with a hamstring. Kevon Looney was initially out for the rest of series with a chest injury. This game was easy picking for the Raptors. Curry will do his thing as indicated in his 47-point explosion that game, but everybody else didn't bother to step up. Danny Green found some life this game with the Raptors, draining six threes. He has been a non-factor this postseason, but we saw a little throwback of San Antonio Danny Green. Kawhi lead the team with 30 points. Lowry made some key buckets to put this game on ice early. Serge Ibaka had a block party with 6 blocks. Game 4, the Raptors won convincingly with a healthy Klay back and Looney surprisingly playing through the chest injury. They were trailing and then stormed back in the second half with a resounding performance from Serge Ibaka off the bench with 20 points. The pick and roll with he and Lowry is absolutely devastating. Fred VanVleet took advantage of that pick and roll with Ibaka as well. The Warriors had no answer to stop it nor could they guard Ibaka's hook shot in the paint. Leonard once again lead the team with 36 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 steals. You can just feel it that he's determined to end the 3-peat hopes of another dynasty.

Game 5, the Raptors have the opportunity of a lifetime to close this series out in front of their hometown, but Kevin Durant is back to give the Warriors a lift and possibly set up another 3-1 comeback. Durant showed no signs of rust with 11 points to provide a spark to Golden State's offense. Then, the devastating Achilles rupture happened and this is the first part of the Warriors' downfall. The Raptors fought their way back in the 2nd half. Kawhi Leonard is taking over the game, despite a bad shooting night. The Warriors are playing sloppy. The refs are trying their best to rig this game. Then Nick Nurse calls a timeout with 3:05 in the 4th quarter. If there's ever a time for a rookie coach to make a mistake, it's the regular season, not when you have a championship to clinch on your home floor. Coach Nurse made that timeout blunder, completely stopping all momentum and giving that momentum back to the Warriors. The Splash Bros. shot the Warriors back to tie and take the lead. The Raptors had a final chance with Lowry's potential winning shot, but Draymond lays a fingertip on the shot to allow the Warriors to fight another day.

Game 6, this is where it all came down. Again, the Warriors have their backs against the wall and this game is even bitter sweet that it is the final game in Oracle Arena. Nothing else was on their mind other than win one final game for Dub Nation and for Durant as well. This game was absolutely incredible down to the wire. It was like a heavyweight fight  with the defending champ knocked down by the new challenger, but the champ continued to fight to 12 rounds despite major swelling and bleeding. Unfortunately, the Warriors lost too much blood with not only KD out, but Klay going down this game with an ACL injury. The Raptors saw some heroics from Fred VanVleet off the bench and Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard taking over the game and eventually leading the Raptors to their first NBA title for the City of Toronto and all of Canada.

I've said it in my preview, that if the Raptors were to win this series and dethrone the 2x defending champs, a lot of variables have to happen. Somebody else has to step to take some load of Kawhi because obviously the Warriors will try to account for him on defense. And that came to fruition. You had Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol step up for Game 1. Danny Green for Game 3. Serge Ibaka for Game 4. Kyle Lowry played amazing on the road. Fred VanVleet has been solid off the bench. Kawhi Leonard, didn't shoot the ball particularly well this series, but he still found ways to take over the game. The key to beating these Warriors is to play physical against them, out rebound them, and most of all make them turn the ball over. And the Raptors with their #1 ranked defense checked off all those categories.

With the way the Raptors built their team, it reminded me of how the old school teams would build their championship team: have two All-Star players and surround them with role players. And if push comes to shove, make midseason moves to find the missing piece to bolster the roster. Masai Ujiri and the Raptors took a calculated risk and it paid off. The next step is to keep the roster in tact. Kawhi Leonard is the biggest wild card here. No matter if he stays or leaves, he's cemented himself in Toronto basketball lore with this epic run and Raptor fans should be forever grateful even if meant sacrificing DeMar DeRozen in the process. Also, I gotta thank him because that's twice this decade that a team tried to supplant the 2000-2002 Lakers' 3-peat and he stopped both of them. Nonetheless, if they're going to break up this championship team immediately, don't do it like what Mark Cuban and the Mavericks did following the 2010-11 season.

For the Warriors, I haven't seen something like this since the Pistons outclassed the Lakers in 2004. Granted, injuries to Durant and Klay decimated this roster. But, that's the risk that goes with fielding a superteam. You gain superstar players at the expense of a deep roster with reliable role players. As always, injuries are always a part of the game. It's unfortunate, but reality. So any Warrior fans who are salty about this, remember your first title came at the expense of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love-less Cavaliers. It's the way the NBA works, dynasties don't last long and they have to break up in order to restore competitive balance in the league. Regardless, dark times are coming for the Warriors and the loss in their final game in Oracle in Game 6 is symbolic that it signifies the end of an era. Now with Klay hurt, KD hurt, Bob Myers has a tough decision to make. Granted, they're planning to lock both players to long-term deal, but are they willing to give two injured players big contracts at the expense of the opportunity to get younger and sign quality players to bolster the team's depth? Do you really want to lose a sense of your mantra in "Strength in Numbers?"

Regardless, both the Raptors and Warriors are at the critical point after these Finals with a lot of questions heading into the offseason. But for now, the Golden dynasty falls while the North rises and so opens a brand new, unpredictable world of the NBA. Because when a superteam in one conference gets too dominant, make sure to have a Kawhi Leonard on a team in an opposite conference to face them in the finals to bring balance back to the league. Anyway, the Larry O'Brien trophy has moved to a new country. It's new home is the home of the first basketball game ever played in: O Canada.

2019 NBA Finals Preview: Golden State Warriors vs. Toronto Raptors

Four straight years, the Golden State gods have battled King James and the Cavalier kingdom for supremacy in the basketball realm. The Golden State gods have taken three out of four holy contests to establish themselves as a dynasty for the ages. Now with King James exiled into the bright lights of Los Angeles and the Cavalier kingdom broken beyond repair once again with his departure, it seemed like none would stand in the way of the Golden State gods and their quest for a 3-peat. But, a new worthy opponent has risen to the occasion. Free from the 3-year tyranny of King James, the Raptors, feral beasts of the North, thought to be extinct, are reborn from the ashes as the new Kings of the East with a new leader. He is aformer Westener who has brought the Golden State gods a worthy challenge when healthy. He is "the Klaw" and he's out for blood to exact revenge with the Golden State gods weakened. No Zaza this time to take out the imminent threat he brings to their reign. Will the reign end or are the Golden State gods using their weakened state as a ploy as they regain their beautifully enigmatic basketball play?

Hope you guy liked that literature above. Welcome in to the 2019 NBA Finals preview provided by yours truly! Finally, we get a fresh new matchup after four straight years of Cavs vs. Warriors in a battle for NBA supremacy. Although the Warriors are still here in the Finals, we get a new Eastern Conference challenger all the way from Canada. Guess you can say finally whoever inserts "World Champions" on their banner gets to justify it. Because this is more than just a Finals matchup. This is a battle of two North American countries in the United States and Canada. This year's matchup features the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors!

Golden State Warriors

Since you have to hear about this team for the fifth consecutive time on the blog, I recommend you skip this part. Was there ever a doubt that this team, someway, somehow will find a way to head to the NBA Finals? It's like I said before, the Golden State Warriors are the champs until they are dethroned. They'll have a chance to do something that no team has done since my childhood Lakers of Shaq and Kobe...3-peat. Though they won back-to-back titles and swept LeBron, banishing him to the depths of Hollywood, the Warriors continue to stay lock and loaded. This offseason, they reminded us of how unfair their organization and culture is compared to the 29 other teams that make up the NBA. They signed DeMarcus Cousins to a cheap 1-year deal and all of a sudden, their starting lineup is literally the Western All-Stars. However, they wouldn't insert him into the lineup until January, but nonetheless they still dominated with or without him.

Despite the invincibility the Warriors bring, there is some drama brewing inside the team. The biggest trigger is the looming free agency of Kevin Durant. It's pretty questionable why he would leave the Warriors when they are his best shot at winning multiple championships. But clearly, the rumors got bigger with him being linked to signing with the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, or Los Angeles Lakers (we're not getting him, be realistic). In fact, things got testy with Durant and Draymond as Green pointed that "they already won a championship without him." Well, he's not wrong. The Warriors signed KD in the first place was so that they have somebody to counter LeBron in the finals. Now that the threat of LeBron is no more at the moment, Durant no longer has any purpose. But, despite all that, they were able to settle their differences to finish strong in the regular season and stay locked in come playoff time. They had quite a test against the superstar-less Clippers in the first round, but Durant's monster performances that series helped propel the Warriors to victory in six games. The next round involved a Western Conference Final rematch against the Rockets. This is where things shifted a little bit. Durant sustained a calf injury in Game 5 and he's out indefinitely. There's something fishy about that injury and it could be worse than what the Warriors are revealing to the media. KD out. Boogie out. That should spell the end of the dynasty right? There's only one problem...the Warriors lineup roster that's currently out there consists of nearly the same roster that won 73 games three years ago, albeit aging. From Game 6 against Houston to all four games against Portland in the Conference Finals, we saw the resurgence of the Warriors' beautiful ball movement, spacing, and pacing. I'm talking the 2014-2016 Warriors pre-KD. And it's all powered by their home-grown core of the 2x MVP Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. They also had big contributions from 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney, who has been nothing short of magnificent as a 6th man this postseason. How quickly they forget.

Toronto Raptors

Relax Toronto. LeBron is no longer in the East to torment your souls year after year. The Raptors made headlines earlier this offseason in a surprising move to let this season's NBA Coach of the Year winner, Dwane Casey go after leading the Raptors to the #1 seed, only to get swept by King James in the 2nd round. In a follow up transaction, they promoted assistant coach, Nick Nurse as the next head coach. The Raptors were pretty much an unknown heading into this season as DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry had to live in the agony of coming up short yet again. However, they received a gift from the San Antonio Spurs in the form of Kawhi Leonard (and Danny Green as extra). Masai Ujiri deserves Executive of the Year for pulling that trade. Yes, it came at the cost of DeRozan, but what they got in return was a superstar, a Finals MVP, a DPOY winner, and one of the best two-way players in the game today. Who wouldn't be ecstatic to get a big return like that?

The acquisition of Leonard has turned the Raptors from a running joke in the East to an instant title contender. While Kawhi gets all the headlines, we can't overlook a few other Raptor players that stepped up. Pascal Siakam made major strides this year with a 16.9 PPG and 6.9 RPG breakout season. This major increase in production has deemed him worthy to be nominated for this year's Most Improved Player award. He might've supplanted Kyle Lowry as the 2nd option on the team. Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell are major contributors off the bench, VanVleet especially when he's shooting hot. Ujiri and the Raptors front office made some mid-season moves to strengthen the team as well by trading for Marc Gasol and giving away long time starter Jonas Valanciunas. The Raptors had a lot of rationale in fielding a "win now" team. Kawhi is on a one-year rental and it's unknown if he wants to stay in Toronto long-term. But, he already built a legacy in Toronto in one year that surpasses what Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, and DeMar DeRozan did for the franchise in their tenure as Raptors. Come playoff time, he was an absolute animal on both ends of the floor. During the matchups against Orlando, Philly, and Milwaukee, he single-handedly carried the Raptors and put an end to their past playoff shortcomings. Nick Nurse is also doing a hell of a job as a first-year head coach, making all the necessary adjustments and placing his trust on his rotation. Heading into the finals for the first time in franchise history since their inception in 1995, the Raptors don't have just the city of Toronto behind them, but all of Canada as well.

Keys for the Dubs

Honestly, it'd be an added bonus if they get back Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins at some point in this series. But so far, the 2-time defending champions are holding their own with their home-grown Big 3 of Curry, Thompson, and Green. Since KD went out, Curry has been on an absolute tear. The shooting woes in the last few games are glaring, but in big moments Curry delivers when needed. The team has shifted back to his chain of command and he's looking for a Finals MVP this time around. Draymond Green is back to being the all-around player he used to be from 2014-2016, setting the tone on both ends of the floor. He too is going to be key, but he's gonna have his hands against bigger players such as Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Pascal Siakam, especially since the Warriors are heavily reliant on their small-ball "death lineup." Klay Thompson, it's simple, when he heats up, it's an added bonus for the Warriors' offense. Like Curry, Klay has had some shooting slumps, but delivers in key moments on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The Splash Bros. will do work. Andre Iguodala is going to have the assignment in trying to contain Kawhi Leonard, he'll be an X-Factor as always. Like I said before, the Warriors are getting some big-time contribution from Kevon Looney off the bench. His youth and hustle on the boards could create some mismatch problems. The motto of this Warriors' dynasty has always been "Strength in Numbers." It's time to live up to that moniker again.

Keys for the Raps

The Raptors haven't been to a stage as big as the NBA Finals in their franchise history. However, they do have some players with some Finals experience. As mentioned, Kawhi Leonard is a former Finals MVP and this will be his third Finals appearance. Danny Green is in the same boat. Serge Ibaka has been there before in 2012 when the Heat eliminated his Thunder in five games. Patrick McCaw, despite not having any major role this postseason, has been on the Warriors' championship roster the past two years and could provide some valuable insight on how to beat them. The other Raptor players will definitely have some jitters despite having home court advantage. Kawhi Leonard has been a godsend for the Raptors this year. He's going to have to set the tone, but without the question the Warriors will gameplan for him defensively, so he's gonna need some outside help. Basically, it hinges on if anybody on the roster shows up this series. Kyle Lowry has to show up. VanVleet has to continue shooting the ball with confidence off the bench. Danny Green and Marc Gasol have had minimal contributions to the team so far this postseason. If any other option outside Kawhi steps up for Toronto, it could create a lot of problems for the Warriors. The Raptors have the size with Siakam, Ibaka, and Gasol to create mismatches against the Warriors' death lineup on the boards. With Durant and Cousins out, it's essential for the Raptors to come right out of the gate these first two games and give the back-to-back defending champs a worthy challenge.

Prediction

This was my pick for this year's NBA Finals since the start of the playoffs. I think Toronto has the personnel to match up well against Golden State. The Raptors' regular season sweep of the Warriors doesn't do a whole lot of justice in showing that as both teams were not at their current state at that time. Nonetheless, the Warriors didn't have a Finals matchup as intriguing as this since they faced a healthy Cavaliers team in 2016. This is especially since they don't have KD and Boogie to start this series. There's no question, the Raptors are going to give them a run for their money. Steve Kerr and Nick Nurse are going to have an epic chess match in coaching and game planning. But at the end of the day, you can't underestimate the heart of a champion. These Warriors are hungry to add on to the dynasty and become the first team to 3-peat in over a decade. Whether Durant and Cousins show up at all, the experience and championship mettle will be on display and look for them to give Oracle Arena one final sendoff with a championship celebration on the home floor.

Warriors in 6