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Now that Magic Johnson is free from the constraints of the Los Angeles Lakers president job, he has been free to tweet to his heart's desire about the playoffs. Magic was at it again after Game 1 of the NBA Finals, praising the Toronto Raptors for their terrific team effort in a 118-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors:
Toronto’s victory was a total team effort. Kawhi scored 23 and Fred VanVleet scored 15 off the bench. As a team they played outstanding defense!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 31, 2019
Magic also gave some love to Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol for their respective performances in the win:
For Game 1, I was right about 2 of 3 things. 1) The Warriors would be rusty & sluggish after being off 9 days and 2) Pascal Siakam had to have a great game, which he did, scoring 32 points.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 31, 2019
I was wrong about Marc Gasol. He was actually the catalyst for the Raptors scoring 20 points and playing great defense on the pick and roll.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 31, 2019
These tweets may have been delivered in classic Magic fashion, but he hit the nail on the head with all of these. The Raptors were outstanding on both ends of the floor, shooting 50.6% from the field while holding the Warriors to 43.6% shooting. Five players scored in double figures for Toronto, with Siakam scoring 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting. Only three Warriors scored in double figures as they struggled to find a rhythm, as Kevin Durant's presence was clearly missed against an aggressive Raptors defense.
As for Gasol, there were some concerns he would get played off the floor, which is something Magic was clearly worried about. Instead, the big Spaniard flourished and proved the doubters wrong for at least one game, going for 20 points and playing stellar defense in the pick-and-roll, as Magic noted.
The Raptors have now won five games in a row after losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. With Durant likely out for Game 2 as well, Toronto has to be smelling blood.
