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The Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors by a score of 118-109 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, and in doing so, they greatly impressed Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
Kerr even went as far to say that the Raptors remind him of his very own team:
“They remind me of us in a lot of ways.”
Steve Kerr discusses the similarities between the Warriors and the Raptors #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/HrCBCUtyi3
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 31, 2019
Toronto's win over Golden State actually marked its third victory over the Warriors this year, as the Raptors also defeated the Dubs twice during the regular season.
Pascal Siakam had a monster Game 1 for Toronto, pouring in 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists while going an incredible 14-of-17 from the floor.
Kawhi Leonard added 23 points, eight boards and five assists in what was actually a relatively tame night for him given how fantastic he has been in these playoffs, and Marc Gasol contributed 20 points and seven rebounds.
In addition, the Raptors got some much-needed production from their other role players, as Fred VanVleet scored 15 points and Danny Green chipped in with 11.
This represents the first time the Warriors don't have home-court advantage in the finals over the last five years, as the Raptors actually finished one game better than the Dubs during the regular season, winning 58 games.
Toronto is in the NBA Finals for the first time in the history of its franchise. The Raptors reached the Eastern Conference Finals once back in 2016, but fell to LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.
Obviously, the trade for Leonard last summer in which Toronto sent DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs has made all of the difference for a team that was never really taken all that seriously as a legitimate contender until this year.
