Six Raptors in double figures (including all the starters) countered Curry’s 47-point barrage.
Anticipation for, and magnitude of, Game 3 of the NBA Finals, was the highest it has been since Cleveland won the title back in 2016. From the series start, Kevin Durant’s absence has loomed large. But going into Game 3, Durant was joined on the sidelines by another teammate, Klay Thompson.
So, now, Golden State was not only without a superstar; it also was without one of the Splash Brothers. It was the first time in his career that Thompson has missed a playoff game.
Where would the scoring come from? Steph and….?
Would it be from Draymond Green? Green is known more for facilitating the offense. To make that point, he had a triple-double a few years ago without scoring a single point!
Would it be from Demarcus Cousins? Boogie has been out with an injury himself and just returned to action. And he’s on restricted minutes because of that, too.
My pre-game thinking was that the answer would be neither. A more feasible alternative would be another player, say, Quinn Cook, who has been contributing at nearly seven ppg coming off the bench.
But it didn’t take long Wednesday night to get an answer. It was none of the above. The load fell to Steph, who had 17 points by the end of the first quarter.
By that point, it was clear that the Warriors were facing a tough situation. Toronto was shooting 53% from the floor, and Golden State was struggling, shooting 37% with four minutes left in the 1st half down, down by 12.
By the two-minute mark, fans saw the Warriors play an unaccustomed style–grit-and-grind, hoping to keep pace with the Raptors and not find themselves out of the game.
But this game wasn’t just about what the Warriors were doing or not doing. It was very much about the Raptors’ strategy. And that strategy included going with Danny Green over Fred Van Fleet to start the second half.
It worked … some. Golden State remained one-dimensional, but Curry still kept scoring. But every time it looked like the Warriors might go on a run, Toronto answered. With 6:42 left in the third, Curry had 32 of the Warriors’ 65 points, and Toronto was up by eight.
The Warriors’ bench wasn’t producing (nobody finished in double figures), while the Raptors’ depth was showing–from Kawhi Leonard to Van Fleet, who has been the biggest X-factor of the series thus far. The Raptors’ execution through three quarters was fantastic, too, and Toronto beat Golden State at its own game–three-point shooting (45% to 33%).
Toronto was up by 13, 96-83, as the third quarter wound down.
A couple of pick-and-rolls from Curry and Bogut was about the only thing going for GS other than Curry creating his shots. Worse yet, with nobody else really filling the scoring gap, Curry wasn’t coming off the floor for a rest.
No classic comeback was in the cards for Golden State this night. They couldn’t get over the hump. By the 5:41 mark of the fourth, the Warriors were down 17 points, 111-94, and it looked like Golden State would end up trailing a playoff series for the first time since the pre-dynasty days.
In 2015, they were down to the Grizzlies 2-1, before coming back to win in six. The problem, though, is that this Raptors’ team is far better than were those Grizzlies, and I’m not sure that the Warriors would have made the 2019 playoffs with that 2015 team.
But comparisons aside, what this game shows the world is just how vital Durant and Thompson are to this team. Throw in a healthy Boogie, too. And even though (to their credit) these Warriors continue to show championship mentality, mettle alone won’t get this team over the hump.
So when Van Fleet hit a miraculous Curry-like shot at game’s end, next steps for Golden State became clear: to three-peat, they’ll need to win at least one game in Jurassic Park. The Warriors will need to be at full strength (or close to it) to get that done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC8DuyADkJ4
