Three takeaways from Warriors-Raptors Game 2: Toronto lets a champion off the mat
Three takeaways from the Golden State Warriors’ 109-104 road win in Game 2 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.
The Warriors belong to Stephen Curry now more than ever
If you ever wanted to see what the Warriors were capable of with merely the greatest shooter ever — rather than three of the best to ever do it — now might be your chance. Kevin Durant missed Game 2 with the right calf strain that has sidelined him since Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, and Klay Thompson suffered a left hamstring injury with eight minutes left on Sunday night. Thompson did not return, and there was no official word on whether he was any more likely to be ready for Game 3 than Durant, who may be sidelined until Game 4.
Thompson told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, “I don’t see myself missing Game 3.” The five-time All-Star is revered for his ability to play through injury, but there is no telling how effective he would be, even with two days of rest before the series resumes in Oakland on Wednesday.
That leaves Curry, who was subjected to a box-and-one defense down the stretch of Game 2. He did not attempt a shot after Thompson asked out, and the Warriors scored 11 points on 10 shots in the game’s final eight minutes. They were fortunate that the Raptors shot just 3 of 16 in that same span, missing solid looks and a chance to take a 2-0 series lead to Oakland against a potentially undermanned Warriors team that also lost center Kevon Looney to a chest bruise.
“He's the best in the business,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said of Curry, who finished with 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting. “That's why he is who he is. He's such a smart player, and he knows how to get his shot, and his team looks for him and they got a good rhythm, and they don't have to run plays or anything. They're just playing basketball. So, you can't relax, you can't have any lapses.”
The Klay-fueled 18-0 run the Warriors unleashed to start the third quarter was enough to withstand the loss of Thompson and Looney for one night. The Warriors still have enviable role players. Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins have all achieved varying degrees of stardom, but Green is at his best when he is creating for Golden State’s shooters, Iguodala is 35 years old and Cousins is returning from a torn quad. Winning with an increasingly hobbled roster around Curry, who was not feeling 100 percent himself on Sunday, is no easy task against a Raptors team brimming with depth, but these champs will not fall lightly.
Green pushed the pace with an energy that was unmatched by anyone on the court, and it was Iguodala who delivered the dagger in Game 2, draining a wide-open 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 109-104 lead with 5.9 seconds left, but the Warriors (of all teams) were already in search of more offensive firepower in Durant’s absence before Thompson went down. Both may be back for Game 3, but the Finals MVP is sitting there for Curry, and it should be awfully fun watching him try to take it against a Toronto team keying in on him even more now.
“I got confidence and faith in everybody that sets foot out there on the floor, and they have the same in me,” Curry said after his Warriors assisted on 34 of their 38 made field goals, including all 22 in the second half. “So, again, whoever is out there contributing and playing will get the job done and have fun doing it.”
Signs of life from DeMarcus Cousins
There was real question about whether Cousins could contribute anything of note in these Finals upon returning from the torn left quad he suffered in Game 2 of the opening round. He played eight mostly terrible minutes in Game 1, and yet Warriors coach Steve Kerr inserted him into the starting lineup on Sunday, only to see him start sluggish defensively once again.
Then, Cousins found a rhythm, aided by foul trouble for Toronto’s frontcourt and the Raptors’ odd unwillingness not to brutalize him in the pick and roll. Forced into 28 minutes by Looney’s absence, Cousins collected 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and a pair of blocks, finishing a team-high plus-12 on the night. The 28-year-old former All-NBA center’s performance was not without its warts — three turnovers and five personal fouls stand out — but he created for his teammates and even showed some springiness on a late-game spinning drive through traffic.
“I don't take any of this for granted,” Cousins told reporters afterward. “I've seen how quick this game can be taken away from you, so every chance I get to go out there and play, I'm going to leave it on the floor.”
Cousins’ production practically nullified that of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka for Toronto, a frightening thought moving forward. Golden State’s vaunted five All-Star lineup — Curry, Thompson, Durant, Green and Cousins — played 268 minutes together in the regular season, outscoring opponents by 12.6 points per 100 possessions. Sunday’s game left us with mixed messages about whether we might actually see that group take the floor together in the Finals.
The Warriors seem to be in a race against time in their pursuit of a third straight title, and that’s why Game 2 felt like more than a lost opportunity for the Raptors. They just put more minutes on the clock against Golden State, and that rarely works in the opposing team’s favor.
“It is what it is,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry told reporters after the loss. “First to four. They’re the defending champs for a reason. They came out aggressive. They came out assertive. We made a big run. They made a big run in the third quarter. It’s the first to four. I think we gave ourselves a chance to get better and be better, so we’ve got a lot of room to grow.”
A win for the conspiracy theorists
Game 2 may have been too far gone for Golden State had they not attempted 19 free throws in a first half that saw non-Klay Warriors shoot a combined 9 for 30 from the field (3 for 13 from 3).
Once Toronto built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, several questionable calls went against the Raptors, including a blocking foul on Kyle Lowry that was clearly a Cousins charge. That marked Lowry’s third foul when it should have been Cousins’ third. That has serious ramifications when Lowry fouls out with four minutes to go and Cousins finishes with five fouls.
“It affects a lot. It takes me off the floor,” Lowry told reporters when asked about the controversial calls. “I’m not going to get in trouble, but a couple of them I didn’t think I fouled. Then, you’ve got to just keep moving on. At the end of the day, I just have to put myself in a better position not to foul.”
Knowing what I know about the profession, I am not much of an officiating conspiracy theorist, but at the very least referees Tony Brothers, Scott Foster and Ed Malloy mucked up the game enough for the Warriors to hang around. That Golden State trailed by only five at halftime was a miracle. The whistles eventually drew even and titled in Toronto’s favor by game’s end, to the point that a coin-flip review went their way in the final minute, but by then the game was up for grabs.
By halftime, Lowry, Ibaka and Pascal Siakam all had three fouls. Gasol and Fred VanVleet each had a pair. They couldn’t be nearly as aggressive as they were to great success in Game 1, and as soon as you give the Warriors an inch, they eviscerate you, even at less than full strength.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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