The Golden State Warriors' bid for a three-peat hit a roadblock Thursday night in the form of the Toronto Raptors' stout defense. It was a defense that had contained MVP-candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Eastern Conference Finals, and one that looked game to take on the defending champs.

Without Kevin Durant, the Warriors' offense is centered around Stephen Curry's shooting and gravity. But as most teams do, the Raptors zeroed in on Curry, daring other Warriors to step up and beat them.

In Game 1, Curry still scored 34 points, but he did so on eight of 18 from the field. And 14 of his 34 points were from the free-throw line. Curry had been on an absolute tear ever since Durant went down in the Conference Finals. But Curry's 18 attempted field goals in Game 1 were his lowest in that six-game span sans KD.

It wasn't that Curry was hesitant or gun-shy. Rather, it was Toronto's solid defensive strategy that double-teamed him, chased him off the perimeter, and hounded him all night long.

Let's dive into a few plays that demonstrated what the Raptors were looking to do to lock up the two-time MVP:

On this play, Fred VanVleet was guarding Steph high up at the three-point line. The Raptors clearly preferred him putting the ball on the floor to pulling up from deep. Curry drove, and Kawhi Leonard was there to help, sagging off of the trailing Draymond Green. A mis-timed reach by Leonard allowed Curry to get around both defenders, but instead of a free path to the rim, Kyle Lowry stepped in from the strong side to help.

Typically, helping one pass away is a huge mistake in the NBA, and coaches adamantly teach against it. But here, Lowry willingly helped off of Andre Iguodala in the strong side corner, knowing Iguodala wasn't an outside threat.

As a result, Curry was forced into the contested layup and missed.

Toronto left little air space for Curry all night, and here, off of a Warriors' offensive rebound, their strategy was clear:

Kevon Looney tapped the rebound out to Curry, who was at the three-point line. VanVleet, though, closed out hard, forcing Curry to take what the defense gave him and put the ball on the floor.  But Siakam, who was guarding Draymond Green, was waiting for him at the rim. Green had wandered back on defense after the missed shot, and didn't hustle back into the play off of the offensive rebound. As a result, Siakam could stay low and protect the rim. Curry, an elite finisher, then opted for the off-balance floater with VanVleet's presence bothering him from behind.

The Raptors would take an off-balance floater from Steph over a finish at the rim or a three any day. And that seemed to be their strategy. Steph took five floaters throughout the game, and took only nine three's.

Typically, Curry's response to teams top-locking or taking away the three is to cut backdoor, and that's exactly what he did here:

Again, VanVleet was on the top side of Curry, denying him the ball. In response, Curry cut backdoor, and Green fed him the ball in stride. But instead of a layup, Curry was met by both Kyle Lowry, who was helping off of Alfonzo McKinnie in the strong side corner, and Serge Ibaka, who was helping off of Looney.

Curry had to throw up a wild floater as a result.

This next play, again, demonstrated the Raptors' willingness to let someone other than Curry beat them:

Coming off of the screen by Jordan Bell, Curry was met by Marc Gasol, who left Bell to contain Curry at the level of the screen. Lowry fought over the top of Looney, and for good measure, Pascal Siakam even helped off of Draymond Green to shade Curry. The convergence of defenders forced Curry to give the ball up and pass to Bell.

The Raptors gladly welcomed a Jordan Bell drive to the basket, and Gasol recovered. Kawhi helped off of Iguodala, similar to Lowry helping off of Iguodala in the first clip above. Bell made the right pass, but Iguodala couldn't knock down the three.

The Raptors were forcing Bell, Iguodala, and the Warriors' supporting cast to make plays all night. It was a sound strategy, and it turned possessions of good Warriors' ball movement into shots the Warriors don't want to be taking.

Again, without other shooters on the floor for Golden State, all the attention was on Curry:

Off of a made basket, Curry pushed the ball up the court. Noticing the mini traffic jam of defenders up top, Curry drove, and his defender, VanVleet, got hung up for a second by his own teammate. But while Curry got around him, Danny Green was there to help. And even past him, Kawhi Leonard was lurking, able to sag off of Shaun Livingston on the perimeter.

Not wanting to force the issue, Curry passed it back out to Livingston, who found a wide open Draymond Green. And when Curry ran around the Livingston pin-down, VanVleet was right there to deny the pass.

Draymond took the open three, and while he'll have to take these every now and then to keep the defense honest, the Raptors would consider this shot a “win” on defense every time. And here, Draymond missed.

The Warriors' also run an endless number of on-ball and off-ball screens, and here was an example of how the Raptors defended Curry off of a ball screen:

VanVleet fought over the top of the Kevon Looney screen, and Serge Ibaka was sinking just low enough for Curry to launch. Throughout the game, the Raptors had many possessions where the defending big was at the level of the screen to take away the Curry three. For some reason, Ibaka was a bit too low on this play. Regardless, VanVleet's pressure from behind, mixed with Ibaka's good closeout, resulted in a blocked shot and another Curry miss.

Both the Raptors and the Warriors are led by their star player. The Raptors' offense goes through Kawhi Leonard, and the Warriors' offense runs through Steph Curry. Stars will inevitably make plays, but it's often the supporting cast that decides a series. In Game 1, the Raptors had five players who scored more than 10 points, and the Warriors had only two.

It's the Gasol's, the VanVleet's, and the Siakam's that could swing a series, and here, they showed up, while the Warriors' role players may have still been on a mental vacation from their long nine-day layoff.

In the end, the championship may come down to which team's supporting cast steps up the most. But playing solid defense on Steph Curry sure helps. And if the Warriors don't figure out a way to counter in Game 2 and beyond, they could be heading home instead of into the history books.