A late delay should allow the Raptors to rest

TORONTO – When Nick Nurse, the Toronto Raptors' coach, called the timeout with 3 minutes and 5 seconds left and his team was leading from 103 to 97, it was like the start of the game. a championship celebration north of the border.

Toronto had just gotten 10 points in a row from Kawhi Leonard to take the lead after stalling since the first quarter, and looked set to win the first title for the city for more than two decades.

But then, in an instant, that was not it.

The Golden State Warriors had three consecutive three-point shots – first by Klay Thompson, then Stephen Curry and again Thompson – to take the lead again and the Raptors missed several opportunities to tie the game or take the lead at the last minute. , who lost 106-105 on Monday night in the fifth game of the NBA finals.

Golden State will now have a chance to push this series to a seventh game when these teams meet Thursday night in the final game at Oracle Arena, while Toronto hopes to win this elusive victory to win the title.

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"We just met and just decided to give these guys a little rest," said the nurse about the timeout. "[We] just thought we could use the extra energy boost. "

According to a rule that was introduced last season, teams can only have two timeouts in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter. Any further delay is lost, which causes many coaches to call one exactly the same place that the nurse did on Monday night.

In this case, the Raptors found themselves with all the momentum and getting closer to a championship. After the waiting period, things collapsed.

"At that time, I felt that he probably wanted to rest a bit," said Leonard. "You never know, I mean, if we won the match, we would not talk about it."

The Raptors did not win the match – and particularly ugly.

Toronto missed five of its last six throws in the last three minutes – including three to three points – and made an expensive turnover that led the player to equal 3 with 33 minutes tied. Golden State, meanwhile, got the shots needed to take the lead and then a block that saved the season Draymond Green about Kyle Lowry's potential at three points in the championship.

"I felt good in my hand," Lowry said. "He got a piece of it, which is what the big defenders do, he has one, and we will continue to watch him and see how we can be better for the next game."

Leonard, who was double in the game, explained his decision not to take the last shot.

"Well, I mean, two guys came to take me, I do not know if I could have shot at me," he said. "It's hard – if you have two guys on you, you have to try to find the right game." We ended up getting a shot in the corner, but that did not happen fast enough.

It was a strange ending to a strange game, one that saw all the air evacuated from the arena at the beginning of the second quarter when Kevin Durant planted his right foot and fell into a pile, eventually leaving the field with which was later diagnosed as an Achilles injury.

At this point, it seems that some fans have applauded Durant. One thing Lowry and other Raptor members immediately started telling them not to do. After the match, Warrior coach Steve Kerr thanked the Raptors for doing so.

Kobe Bryant breaks down the performance of Toronto Raptors striker Kawhi Leonard against the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs. Watch on ESPN +

"I think I do not think the fans understood the importance of the injury," Lowry said. "They sort of saw that he fell in. In this league we are all brothers.At the end of the day we are all brothers and it's a little fraternity and you never want to see a competitor like him to collapse.You do not know what the circumstances are.

"And for me, it was just, listen, we do not want something to happen like that, we do not know what is or what's going on, so I just do not want to – we do not want that kind And that changed little emotionally, it was just after his fall, he fell, and we continued and finished the match. "

This result did not, however, match expectations, but Leonard snatched those 10 consecutive points to propel Toronto ahead. Scotiabank Arena – not to mention the tens of thousands of spectators outside, and across the country who had gathered in various "Jurassic Parks" to watch it – broke out, and it seemed like the Raptors were intended to cross the finish line and win the title.

The Warriors, however, reminded the world why they had won two consecutive titles and three of the last four. They went to five consecutive NBA Finals – winning the best shot in Toronto and returning immediately to the Raptors.

"I think that nowadays, riding six with three minutes to go does not mean much," said the nurse.

"We have to keep playing and getting good shots and guards, we've been a very good close team this year at both ends of the table, we've been really guarding in the second half, we've kept them at 22 each shift, and I felt good at that moment.

"[We] just need to make a couple more plays ".