The first NBA game was played in Toronto.
And now, the final of the league is heading to that Canadian city.
Finally.
The NBA title series is ready once the Toronto Raptors captured the Eastern Conference title on Saturday and earned the right to face the Western champions, the Golden State Warriors. For the Raptors, it will be their first time in this phase; For the Warriors, it will be their 11th trip to the finals and fifth in a row, as they seek a fourth championship in the past five seasons.
The first clash of the series will take place Thursday night in Toronto, which will become the first city outside the United States to host a final match – a feat accomplished nearly 73 years after Toronto was the setting for the first game in NBA history.
The Raptors didn’t exist back then. Toronto’s first team in the NBA was the Huskies, who in their only season went 22-38. The Raptors arrived in 1995, and in their 24th season they are finally in the championship series.
“They are the champions,” declared Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors star, of the Warriors. “We have to get in the game, have mental focus, enjoy the moment and accept the challenge.”
While it is the first final in franchise history, many players on the team have already experienced it. Leonard and Danny Green arrived with San Antonio in 2013 and 2014, and even Leonard was voted the MVP of the series against Miami five years ago.
Serge Ibaka played a final in Oklahoma City in 2012 and backup Patrick McCaw was part of the Warriors who lifted the title the past two seasons.
“We are not satisfied,” said Raptors president Masai Ujiri. “We want to win the championship.”
For the Warriors, this has almost become an annual ritual.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston have each made it through five trips to the Golden State final. Kevin Durant heads to his third straight final and fourth overall; of being voted MVP of the final – which looks unlikely at this point, given that the first game is expected to be missed and it is unknown whether he will even be able to play in this series with a calf injury – he would join Michael Jordan and Shaquille. O’Neal as the only ones to receive that accolade in three seasons in a row.
By the time the first game of the series begins, the Warriors will have been off the court for 10 days. On Saturday they trained a bit in order to break the monotony.
“I think we try to deal with it intelligently,” Iguodala said. “We have a few players trying to recover from injuries and this has given us some time to get that break and take advantage of it.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a chance to win his ninth championship. He has raised five as a player, three beforehand as a coach and reaches his 10th final in the past 13 seasons assuming either of those two roles.
But for Leonard, it will be his first final since he was named the MVP of the series in 2014.
And his performance only continues to show that his first year with Toronto has been a success.
After being traded to the Raptors for San Antonio in the summer – DeMar DeRozan being the best item the Spurs received in exchange – Leonard, his health and doubts about his ability to adjust to the Toronto game were among the most debated topics. at the beginning of the campaign.
But all of that has been resolved. Leonard has averaged 31.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in the playoffs, and had a game of 27 points, 17 boards and seven assists in the victory over Milwaukee that gave Toronto the East title on Saturday.
Game 2 of the final will be played in Toronto on June 2, followed by games three and four at Oracle Arena on June 5 and 7. AP