[ad_1]
-
Tim BontempsESPN
OAKLAND, Calif. – When the Toronto Raptors came out of the visitors' locker room at half-time in the fourth game of the NBA finals, beating the Golden State Warriors by just four points – though they were downplayed at First 24 minutes – had a chance.
Kawhi Leonard was then assured that they were taking full advantage of it.
A superb show to open the third quarter – Leonard opened the scoring with a 3-pointer on Draymond Green, then stole the ball to Green, dribbled it and created a second 3-pointer on his outstretched arm – erased the 16-second deficit and gave Toronto their first lead of the game.
By the end of the quarter, Leonard had scored 17 of his 36 points just in the quarter, silencing the game almost alone, the Raptors winning a 105-92 win over the Warriors.
Toronto now has a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series and can win its first title with a win at the Scotiabank Arena in Game 5 on Monday night.
"Kawhi Leonard came out and made two big F-you shots to start the half," said Raptors teammate Fred VanVleet. "There is no defense for that, there is no ploy for it.
2 related
"Two big guns with which we came out of half-time, two back-to-back … who just let you know how we were going to approach the third quarter and the rest of the half."
Time and time again in these playoffs, Leonard has delivered for Toronto. His efforts in the fourth game of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Philadelphia allowed the Raptors to survive this game, before his incredible drummer ending the series in Game 7 allowed them to progress. . Passage at Milwaukee Giannis Antetokounmpo in the third game of the Eastern Conference final tilted this series in the direction of Toronto, as the Raptors swept the last four games to qualify for their first NBA Finals.
But his performance on Friday night – this 36 points on 11 shots out of 22, including 5 against 9 to 3 points, to do with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 interceptions, a block and no turnaround in 40 minutes – could have been his better yet.
This is partly due to the magnitude of the moment, as the Raptors found themselves looking for a chance to establish a grip on this series. And this is partly due to the degree of difficulty with which Leonard was presented. The Warriors, eager to prevent this being the last game at Oracle Arena, played a stifling defense in the first quarter and quickly took the lead 23-12.
But as his teammates come together to score 13 points in the first 12 minutes, scoring a total of three points, Leonard scored 5 goals for 8 and scored 14 points, allowing the Raptors to finish the quarter, far behind. 23-17.
"I mean, at the same time, I knew I had confidence that it was going to turn out for us," said Leonard. "We were missing a lot of very open shots."
This confidence was well placed, as Leonard missed four shots in the second quarter, but the rest of the Raptors scored 9 goals to allow Toronto to start with just four points, setting the table. for his third-quarter blast that put the game away.
Leonard finished the third quarter with 17 points, giving the Raptors a 37-21 advantage in the quarter, allowing Toronto to take a 79-67 lead in the fourth quarter. It was a performance that gave the impression of a heavyweight boxer hitting an opponent in the body with a powerful shot after the other. Leonard was moving slowly to 5 from 8 and 5 to 5 from the foul line, but surely pound the warriors in submission.
This was particularly shocking, as the third quarter usually corresponds to the takeoff of the Warriors.
This time, Toronto beat Golden State at its own game.
"The two big 3 in Kawhi to start the half, really changed the mood of everyone," said Toronto coach Nick Nurse. "I just thought everyone was saying," OK, man, we know we're here. Let's go. "
"We just kept going from [there]. "
At times in the fourth quarter, the Warriors organized mini-series to reduce their deficit. But every turn, the Raptors have done what they have done so many times in these series: meet a big match of an opponent with one of theirs.
Nothing, however, could match what Leonard did. And, thanks to his latest sublime performance and new evidence from an ever-increasing number of people stating that he is in fact the best player in the world, Toronto is now at a championship win. could see coming.
Do not think, however, that the Raptors will start celebrating for the moment.
"We have not done anything yet", Toronto Guard Kyle Lowry said. "We did not do anything, we won three games.
"It's the first of four, we understand that, they're the defending champions, and they're not going out easily, they're going to come out and get ready to play the next game, and that's it." as well as we're preparing ourselves.
"We have to get ready to play the next game, we have not done anything yet."
[ad_2]
Source link