What a night for Pascal Siakam in front of the packed Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. In his second playoffs with the Raptors, the 25-year-old power forward scored 32 points and led his team to a historic 118-109 win overt the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
He was emotional after the game, talking about his late father who died in a car crash 5 years ago.
Kawhi Leoanrd fought bravely against the Warriors defence, and ended the game with 23 points. Marc Gasol exploded and contributed withe 20 points, but was fouled out with a little over a minute before the buzzer. Kyle Lowry pitched in with 7 points and 9 assists, Fred VanVleet scored 15 points, while Danny Green finished the night with 11.
The Raptors are now leading 1-0 in their historic first NBA Finals. They’ll have a chance to double their lead on Sunday, before the series heads to California.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors in the firth Finals apperance in a row, not even his 34 points weren’t enough for a win. The Warriors were the favourites, especially due to their experience. The team has 140 Finals game between them, while the Raptors only have 38.
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Toronto’s Fifth Playoff Win in a Row
The Warriors even have more time to rest as they beat the Trail Blazers 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals. On the other hand, the Raptors made a fantastic comeback against the Buck in the Eastern Finals. After being 2-0 down, the team from Ontario won four consecutive matches to earn the spot in the Finals.
The Raptors kicked off the first quarter in the right way, and were soon in a seven-point lead. The Warriors made a 8-0 run to take the lead, but the home team once again made a 7-0 run to end the first 12 minutes of the game with a four-point lead (25-21). Toronto continued the same way in the second, extending the lead to 10 points at the half-time break (59-49).
The Raptors were leading by 12 in the third quarter, but the Warriors managed to win that part of the game 32-29, going into the last 12 minutes of the game trailing by 7 (88-81).
Goldent State had no intention of going down that easy, and the ruling NBA champions managed to pull to within 3 points early in the quarter. However, the Raptors quickly replied, increasing their advantage to 12 with 7:31 left on the clock. The Warriors cut the advantage to seven, a little ove a minute before the end, but it was too late to avoid a defeat.
You can find the best odds for the upcoming Game 2 at Betway.