Raptors take commanding 3-1 series lead in NBA Finals with win over Warriors
Kawhi Leonard pours in 36 points as series shifts back to Toronto on Monday
The Toronto Raptors are one win away from their first NBA championship in the team's 24-year history.
Kawhi Leonard scored 17 of his 36 points in the third quarter to lead to Raptors to a gritty 105-92 come-from-behind victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
The Raptors, who lead the best-of-seven series 3-1, can capture the Larry O'Brien Trophy on home court at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.
"I thought we played really tough tonight," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "We were taking a lot of punches early and we just kept standing in there and playing. Then we were kind of able to exert our will in the second half."
Leonard also hauled down a team-high 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who are making their finals debut. Serge Ibaka added 20 points for the Raptors, who took control with a massive third quarter. Pascal Siakam chipped in with 19 points, while Kyle Lowry had 10 points and seven assists.
WATCH | Raptors stun Warriors in Game 4:
Klay Thompson, who sat out Game 3 with a hamstring injury, had 28 points to top the two-time defending champion Warriors, who are making their fifth consecutive finals appearance. Stephen Curry, who had a playoff career-high 47 points on Wednesday, scored 27.
Kevon Looney also returned for Golden State after it was previously announced he was out for the remainder of the series with a rib injury.
Nurse said the Raptors will have to maintain their singular focus as they head home.
"We're going to get back there and as you know they're going to be going crazy in Toronto," Nurse said. "My message to them is we've never really talked about the series score. You can't let people take you to some places you aren't [at] yet."
WATCH | Nick Nurse comments on Raptors fans at Oracle:
Warriors coach Steve Kerr expects his team to put in a great effort in Game 5.
"[The Warriors] have been to the finals five straight years for a reason," Kerr said. "They're unbelievably competitive, they're together, they're going to fight, they're going to fight the whole way."
Trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Raptors roared back with 37 points in the third, outscoring the Warriors by 16 points in the frame. Leonard had two straight threes to kick-start the quarter, then Marc Gasol's jumper 1:29 into the quarter gave Toronto its first lead since early in the first quarter. The Raptors led 79-67 to start the fourth.
Leonard drilled a three with 8:44 to play to stretch Toronto's advantage to 16 points. A Curry three-pointer capped a 13-6 Warriors run that sliced the Raptors' lead to just eight with 2:56 to play. But Siakam made two free throws and then drilled a two before Lowry drove for a layup and the Raptors went back up by 14, sending hundreds of Warriors fans to the exits.
Siakam scored on a mid-range jumper with 52 seconds left, prompting a roaring "Let's go Raptors!" chant from the Toronto fans in attendance.
"They're a great team and it's the NBA Finals," Thompson said. "Everyone knows their role. They've got a lot of experience, guys who have been here before."
Fred VanVleet, who had eight points on the night, took a massive elbow to the face from Shaun Livingston — and lost a tooth in the process — a couple of minutes into the fourth, and was bleeding profusely before he was helped off the court and to the locker-room. VanVleet received seven stitches but passed concussion protocol and returned to the bench.
The Raptors are 8-0 in playoff games in which Ibaka scores 10 or more points.
"Once gets into a series, which he did in Game 3 with blocked shots and rebounding, he seems to stay in the series," Nurse said. "He was great tonight. Once he starts blocking a couple shots, the offence comes, the rebounding comes, [there's a] put-back here and there and even his jump shot seems to come."
WATCH | Kyle Lowry isn't celebrating just yet:
The Raptors acquired Leonard, Gasol and Danny Green in their quest for their first NBA championship. If there's been one common character trait throughout the team in their historic post-season ability, it's their ability to keep level-headed through both the highs and lows.
Asked in his pre-game availability whether the Game 4 pressure was on Toronto or Golden State, Nurse told the media: "That's probably up for you guys to decide.
"Again, whether we're up 2-1 or down 2-1, or down 2-0 or blah, blah, blah, we haven't really talked about the score of the series at all the entire playoffs," Nurse said. "We have tried to just isolate every game.
"We know they're all critical, right? I guess all I know is you need to win four, and you can't win four until you win three, I think, if my math is good there ... Take them one at a time."