NBA Finals 2019: Can the Raptors Claw Out a Win?

[KingintheNorth4]

Kyle Lowry has come alive.

[Jaime L]

Kawhi is a stone cold assassin. He can tell the Warriors are fading and he's going to rip their hearts out himself.

[KingintheNorth4]

Kawhi motherfucking Leonard has taken over the game.

[SkynJay]

Thats a basket.

Edit: That was still a basket.

[Jaime L]

holy fuck splash bros 

[SkynJay]

Yay. I get more basketball.

[Jaime L]

Holy shit.

Such a smart double team of Kawhi. I had already mentally penciled in him nailing the game winner. But absolutely force someone, anyone else, to beat you.

[Fragile Bird]

Bah, humbug!

[The Mother of The Others]

Cousins would have melted down after that call in his previous uniform.  Emotional growth!    

 

So....this extra game 6 builds drama.   Congrats on winning to the team that always wins?  Feel free to throw us a curveball next time, though, GS.  Go Raptors.   And sorry if any Canadians were offended by that anthem thing, singers need to annunciate that R for sure.  It did seem odd, in hindsight.

[Jaime L]

39 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Given all of the angles that was one of the most riveting finals games I can remember.  Wow, that was awesome.  

Definitely one of the most intense, wtf games I can recall. The Warriors were running on absolute fumes at the end...still not entirely sure how they pulled it out. Seemed like they got just enough of everything. Just enough surprise Cousins, just enough late 3's (including one from Draymond).....and just enough Durant. What's clear is there's no way they win this game without the 11 points in 12 minutes he provided. 

They're still the walking dead at this point. They're overmatched from a size, energy and skilled depth standpoint. I expect it to end badly for them in game 6...but I'm just glad we get more basketball. I'm not ready for the offseason just yet. 

ETA: Oh shit, an emotional Bob Myers just announced Durant suffered an Achilles injury. It's unclear atm if it's a full tear. This fucking sucks. 

[Proudfeet]

48 minutes ago, Triskele said:

ETA2:  Letter of the rule...not sure.  Spirit of the rule, no way that is a goal tend.  

Was that the Cousins put back? Not sure what is the difference between goal tending and an alley oop.

[Fragile Bird]

This is a bit late, but something I meant to say about the Mark Stevens - Lowry push thing, but forgot to post.

Stevens made his bucks at Sequoia Capital, a company that manages over a trillion, yup, with a T, dollars in investments. Based in Menlo Park, they specialize in high tech companies.

They were infamous for never having a woman partner. Because they didn’t want to lower their standards.

It may be unfair to to think Stevens was just like his fellow partners. But probably not.

[Relic]

Sucks about the Durant injury, he was clearly out there playing with heart. Hope it's not a full tear... 

[Cpl. Tunny]

Watching Espn and Rachel Nichols says, "Team will deal with the worry/drama of where KD goes, in the very near future." (Obviously, paraphrasing here.). After he went down tonight to Game 5.

What?

Friday night when KD went down, my Karma rating went up +3 for KD. He showed the world he was not a fake. (To me, I believed he was hurt and I was doing the right thing.) But, I think there will be no worries with KD leaving the Dubs'. At all.

He has shown himself and more importantly, that he, no matter the greatness of 5 very great players. 

All-World, Steph Curry 

All-NBA, Klay Thompson

All-D, Mr. #Dowhatittakes AKADrayDray

Mr. Defense/Hustler/Mr. Big Shots, Andre Igoudala

Mr. Could Be a Franchise player, not around here tho., Demarcus Cousins

That he is needed in GSW, is unquestionable. The Raptors are only gonna get better and this is prime Kawhi (who I absolutely love. Everything about him. I love people that are...different in an akward way, hey, we all felt that way one time or another, right.) is going to be, if not the best (I believe, at this moment.), a top 3 guy for at least 7 more years, at least.They will add either another significant piece, or load up one or two good 3 and D guys. They are here to stay. If they win, ZERO chance of leaving. And doesnt his akwardness seem like the Superstar to take the [iRaptors[/i], to sustained greatness. Hes capable. Reminds me of Jordan in so many ways. Athletic ability, takes over when needed, great work ethic, and a upstanding citizen. Someone your kids into the NBA, you hope would gravitate towards players with that type personality.

Now KD....

I truly thought the man was hurt. Heard rumors feastering, that he was milking it in hopes of being validated. I hoped so badly that wasnt true. Thats not a good teammate for someone to play with, not be looked up to by fans of the game.

When Jalen Rose reported before the start of Game 4, he let us in to what happened that pregame workout. KD had punted on it shocking alot of people. Came out in Game 5, played a very damn good game missing a month and playing in the Finals as your his first game back. Then went down with a torn (most likely) achilles. He validated himself to all in that locker room. From Steph to Dray, that he is a team player. KD was also validated. They won tonight because of KD, most likely. He gave his all, 11 point, going as he could because fatigue would set in, after missing a month. They need KD to beat these Raptors, also probably a little younger and deeper....on the bench. 

Anyway, Raptors win this series, Period. Kawhi becomes King of Canada & NBA. KD has the loyalty and trust of his teammates. That quite frankly, I thought was lost this year. But, here the whole time, KD was the stand up dude. He played tonight against medical advice, I'm very sure. Went out performed for HIS team. And I feel, he will be validated, teammates will duly imbrace him, and thats all he wants, validation and to be loved. A man that grew up without a father. Im happy and proud of KD.

And, this will be a fucking rivalry for 3-4 years.

Sincerely,

Cpl. Tunny

 

P.S. Fuck Drake.

 

 

[Relic]

3 hours ago, Cpl. Tunny said:

But, here the whole time, KD was the stand up dude. He played tonight against medical advice, I'm very sure. Went out performed for HIS team. And I feel, he will be validated, teammates will duly imbrace him, and thats all he wants, validation and to be loved. A man that grew up without a father. Im happy and proud of KD.

Have to say that for as much as i bitch at KD's decision to join GS he really showed heart and character yesterday. The injury really sucks. 

Also, Toronto deserved o lose for the way their fans reacted when he went down. That was some bullshit, right there. 

[Mexal]

Amazing game, horrible Durant news. I feel dead inside.

[David Selig]

All the hot takes about Durant being a coward and not competitive has always been really dumb IMO, if anything he's too competitive and obsessed about basketball, and that cost him yesterday. He shouldn't have come back, he had his rings and FMVP and risking his health just before hitting free agency is just reckless.

Toronto should still win this series, GSW are just too short-handed now, their core players looked absolutely exhausted at the end of this one. Looney getting injured again is a big loss.

[Rhom]

That was a helluva way to say “See... I told you guys I was hurt.”

I hate that for KD.  And it’s doubly sad to know with a certainty that if he didn’t get injured and went on to score 30+ (as he was nearly assured of at his pace), the hot take haters would still be out here today claiming he was sand bagging on purpose.  

[Maithanet]

Sucks for Durant.  Nobody ever wants to see injuries in sports, and it's doubly painful when it was halfway expected like in this case.

The Raptors deserved to lose.  They missed a ton of open 3s all game, and it came back to haunt them.  When Kawhi put in his explosion late, they went up 6 and the team stopped playing offense completely.  This team is at its best when they are passing and attacking, not standing around waiting for Kawhi to do something awesome.  When they do that, things look like that final possession (bad).

The Warriors also deserved to lose.  The training staff in particular, but also the abysmal execution down the stretch.  In the Final two minutes they had an offensive goaltend, a defensive goaltend, an over and back turnover and a moving screen turnover.  That is a straight disaster.  But a couple of great shots from Curry and Klay combined with the Raptors complete offensive surrender was enough to force a game 6.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I told you @Jaime L. You’ll get your game six. And guess what? You’ll get a seventh too.

On Durant, yes that sucks, but he’ll still get his money. But now we have to wonder if the Warriors were lying the whole time about his injury. It’s easy to say he should have been playing given what his teammates are playing through, but if it was really his Achilles the whole time, then no, he should have never played on it. That’s the one super risky injury for basketball players.  

Also, regardless of how you feel about the Warriors, soak last night in. The best thing in sports over the last five years has been the Warriors down late and scared, and we got a vintage performance.