The Toronto Raptors made history by winning their first NBA championship and the first title for a team from outside the United States after defeating the Golden State Warriors, champions in the last two seasons, in the sixth game of the Final 114-110.
In an even game from start to finish, with up to 18 changes in the lead on the scoreboard, the Raptors thus closed a dream season, which began with the capital acquisition of Kawhi Leonard, from the San Antonio Spurs, which changed the landscape. in the league.
The forward, the best player in these Playoffs, finished with 22 points, point guard Kyle Lowry and power forward Pascal Siakam with 26 and substitute point guard Fred VanVleet was the hero at the end with 22, 12 of them in the last bedroom.
Point guard Stephen Curry had 21 points, guard Klay Thompson with 30, forward Andre Iguodala with 22 and power forward Draymond Green with a triple-double of 11, 19 rebounds and 13 assists for Golden State.
The Warriors, without the injured Kevin Durant, MVP of the previous two finals, showed their soul of champions at all times but lost at the end of the third period also Thompson due to a knee injury, and were left without his fourth ring in the last five years.
The Oakland dynasty now faces a decisive summer: next year they will leave for neighboring San Francisco, Durant, Thompson and the post DeMarcus Cousins are free agents and the management is financially tied to revamp a squad in need of new faces .
– In threes –
In the last NBA game for the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Toronto came out to sentence the tie in the opening bars with a partial of 11-2, all of them the work of Lowry.
The point guard, who missed the decisive shot on the buzzer in the fifth game in Canada, started on fire to lead his team in the opening bars.
The Canadians, who had to settle for 8/32 from the 3-point line in their last game, held their lead for most of the first quarter thanks to their 3-point shooting.
On the other side, Thompson was in charge of keeping the Warriors alive on a strangely quiet night for Curry, whose first shot to the basket came after nine minutes due to the iron double and triple marking of the visiting defense.
Toronto arrived like this with a minimal advantage of a unit at the end of the first period (33-32) thanks to an unstoppable Lowry and with a 7/14 in shots of three.
Golden State, with a great Iguodala and an omnipresent Green, always kept its composure and, with a Thompson in sniper mode, it was navigating the attacks of the visitors to go down three at halftime (57-60).
His 10 losses in 24 minutes were too big a drag until then.
– MVP –
Kawhi, turned off until then, came out accelerated with six consecutive points to scratch an income of six (72-66) that the locals neutralized to get back ahead (80-76) with their maximum up to that moment.
Thompson was an unstoppable force, scoring from anywhere… until he was fouled behind Danny Green on a dunk, landed badly on his left knee and, after taking free throws, limped off to the locker room.
Moments later came the terrible news: the escort would miss the rest of the fight, leaving the locker room on crutches.
88-86 for Oakland at the end of the third quarter but a whole quarter without their fittest player. 12 eternal minutes to fight for a first ring or to stay alive in the series.
Everyone was looking at Kawhi. Curry. Even Pascal Siakam from Cameroon and Marc Gasol from Spain. But the one who appeared, again, was VanVleet.
The substitute point guard for the Canadians sealed three consecutive triples and once again gave the lead to his team. The supporting actor was the protagonist when nobody expected him and when Toronto needed him most.
And, how could it be otherwise, as in most of the tie, everything was decided in the last seconds.
A triple by Green brought the hosts closer to three with two minutes to go (108-105) and a Cousins basket put them to one with 37.7 seconds (109-108).
Siakam extended the distance to all three with a floater (111-108), Curry hit two free throws (111-110) and Danny Green incomprehensibly lost the ball with 9.6 left.
The Warriors, in their farewell to Oracle Arena, were going to have the last of the game. Curry was the chosen one… but his triple did not enter.
After four consecutive free throws, Golden State thus gave up its title, unable to overcome the severe injuries of two of its three best players.
Meanwhile, the Raptors celebrated with anger and Kawhi was elected MVP for the second time in a Final (before with the Spurs), after unforgettable Playoffs that already place him as the most important basketball player in Canadian history. AFP