If Raptors want it, they'll have to take it away from Warriors
Playoff histories of 2 teams couldn't be more different — dynasty vs. misery
It's an all too familiar experience for the Golden State Warriors this time of year — for five straight seasons, the basketball juggernaut from Oakland/San Francisco has been in this exact spot.
It couldn't be more different for the Toronto Raptors. Canada's team is making its first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.
This year's NBA championship has been billed as a David-versus-Goliath matchup. The Golden State Warriors are favoured, entering this year's NBA Finals with a back-to-back champion swagger. The Raptors, on the other hand, continue to be referred to as the little team from the North that could. Or just might. This is new territory.
"We know who they are. We got to go out there and do our job," veteran Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said. "This is basketball. Ain't no pressure. It's fun. This is amazing. It's a great time."
The Warriors finished the regular season with a 57-25 record, good enough for first in the Western Conference.
Toronto was a nearly identical 58-24, putting them behind only the Milwaukee Bucks (60-22) — who the Raptors dispatched in the conference final — for second-best record in the league.
Add to the fact the Raptors defeated the Warriors in both of the team's meetings during the season and to the casual observer, the whole Raptors underdog narrative seems bizarre if not baffling.
"I absolutely think they can win the series," said Doug Smith, longtime Raptors reporter for the Toronto Star. "These guys are just as good as them. And the thing about these Raptors, nothing is going to faze them. They might get down a game or get down deep in a game but they're hard and tough, grown men who have been through a lot of big games."
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The playoffs are a different beast entirely. And it's only in the playoffs, and winning championships, that people point at to measure the success of a team. That's why most prognosticators, pundits and fans alike are all picking the Warriors to not only win easily, but to run away with their fourth championship in five years. It's hard to argue against any of it.
"I don't even know who's picking against us," Lowry said. "It doesn't really matter. Everyone has their own opinion, as always. For us, we've just got to go out there and do our job."
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The Warriors' been-there-done-that cast of characters seems to rise to the occasion in these pressure-packed moments and series. Led by the cool, calm and smooth-shooting Steph Curry, Golden State relishes this time of year. Curry has played in all 16 of Golden State's playoff games so far this post-season, averaging 27.3 points per game.
And yet for all the winning this team has done, undoubtedly in the midst of a dynasty looking to win three consecutive titles, Curry said they've never become complacent.
"Everybody talks about it's hard to find that edge and get up for, (you) find some sort of monotony — I don't know if you find that in the Finals — that's part of human nature that you fight," Curry said.
It would be easy for this team not to fight, or at least become lackadaisical. Maybe the shine of winning yet another title would dull. But it's in these moments true champions emerge. And for the past five years, the Warriors have been a model of consistent will and desire to win — that's been the difference.
The Warriors will also have had nine full days of rest leading into Thursday's Game 1, compared to the four days the Raptors have had since finishing off Milwaukee on Saturday, and slightly banged up in the process. Lowry has been nursing an injured hand and Kawhi Leonard has played through a sore knee.
WATCH | Kyle Lowry on similarities of Leonard and Green:
When you contrast the Warriors' past five playoff appearances with the Raptors; last five playoff performances, it becomes clearer why many aren't picking Canada's team to put up much of a fight.
Here's how the previous four playoff appearances have gone for the Raptors:
- 2014 — Lose first round in seven games to the Brooklyn Nets.
- 2015 — Lose first round in four straight to the Washington Wizards.
- 2016 — Lose Eastern Conference final in six to LeBron James and the Cavs.
- 2017 — Lose second round in four straight to the Cavs.
- 2018 — Lose second round in four straight to the Cavs.
There's been nothing but misery and disappointment, mostly at the hand of King James. For three consecutive seasons, LeBron was the Raptors' kryptonite. So much of Raptors history has been defined by missed shots and opportunities, and star players leaving the team.
Times have changed though. James left for the Lakers (much to the delight of the Raps and the Warriors for that matter, who faced James the past four finals).
A new king has emerged and breathed new life into Toronto.
Leonard is having one of the greatest playoff performances in the history of the game and has been nicknamed the King of the North. He leads the NBA post-season in total minutes played (696), points scored (561), free throws made (133), and steals (28).
"He said something to the effect of these first 82 are just practice and I thought, OK, he's getting ready to throw it into another gear here pretty soon," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of his star.
Leonard has given basketball fans in Canada reason to believe. In fact, this entire playoff run has been an exercise in exorcizing franchise demons of the past. And Leonard has been leading Toronto through it all.
"I don't care about being the best player, I want to be the best team," Leonard said following the Game 6 victory over the Bucks. "We're in the finals and we're not done yet."
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The stars have been aligning throughout this magical playoff run for the Raptors. And it culminated in one of the great nights in Toronto sporting history last Saturday when the team defeated the Bucks. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets after the 100-94 series-clinching win, chanting, cheering and celebrating into the night.
And while the Raptors franchise has never been to an NBA Finals before, they have a finals MVP in Leonard to lean on. He guided the San Antonio Spurs to a championship in 2014.
Couple that with Golden State missing forward Kevin Durant for Thursday's opener due to an injury, and things get just a little more interesting. All of this to say, there's a chance.
And Raptors fans know it.