Toronto Raptors win first NBA championship in franchise history
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 Thursday at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors played without Kevin Durant, who injured his Achilles tendon in the last series.
Golden State was 0-3 at home against Toronto this season, losing all three games by double digits. And this will be the final time that the Warriors play a home game at Oracle Arena, with the team moving to the Chase Center in San Francisco next season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I just kept working hard and had my mind set on this goal here," Raptors forward and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard said after the win. "This is what I play basketball for."
"It’s been a long time coming, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn't for these guys," veteran Kyle Lowry added. "Canada, we’ve brought it home, baby!”
The Raptors came out of the gate with all the intensity of a team that knew it had blown a golden chance Monday and was determined not to let it happen again. Toronto hit five of their first six three-point attempts and jumped out to an 11-2 lead 2:12 into the game after the occasionally maligned Lowry hit his third trey of the night.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But despite Lowry’s 15 points – including four three-pointers -- in the first frame, Toronto was not able to shake Golden State and only led 33-32 after 12 minutes. The Warriors could largely thank Klay Thompson for that, as the less-heralded Splash Brother scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, including two key three-pointers.
The game continued to seesaw in the second quarter. Toronto took a 43-38 on a three-pointer by Fred VanVleet with 8:15 left in the period, only for Golden State to go on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 46-43 when Andre Iguodala finished off an alley-oop pass from Draymond Green.
The lead changed hands 10 times in the second frame before the Raptors took a 55-54 advantage on a floating jump shot by Lowry. A Kawhi Leonard three-point play made the score 58-54, before Leonard picked up his third foul when he hit Thompson’s arm on a three-point shot.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lowry made a driving layup to make the score 60-57 Raptors at the break, but the efforts of Thompson (18 first-half points) and Iguodala (11 first-half points) had kept the Warriors in the game.