The Toronto Raptors are on the verge of winning their first-ever NBA championship, and all they need to do is to beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 this Monday night.
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski recently gave his sentiments about the Warriors-Raptors series in an episode of The Woj Pod. He also noted several similarities between the 2019 NBA Finals and the 2014 Finals matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat.
Woj said that the hunger of the Raptors in the Finals is similar to that of the Spurs back in 2014 because of the fact that both teams have something to prove. San Antonio was trying to avenge their 2013 Finals loss against Miami, which is why they were extremely motivated the following season. It resulted in the Spurs dominating the Finals series in five games.
As for the Raptors, they haven't been in the Finals before, but they have tried — and came up short — multiple times over the past couple of years. This season, they want to end their streak of heartbreaking postseason exits by winning a championship.
An interesting note made by Woj in his podcast was the situations of superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant. The veteran analyst said that when the Heat made their last Finals run, James was already preparing for his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, meaning he has already one foot out of Miami's door back then.
Durant is not expected to make his return to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but multiple reports have circulated that he has no plans to commit long-term to the Warriors. A lot of speculations out there are saying that he's going to join the New York Knicks next season, which means that Game 5 could potentially be his last game for the Dubs.
One similarity that Woj forgot to mention is the fact that Kawhi Leonard played for the Spurs back in 2014. He led San Antonio in stopping the Heat's three-peat.
He's playing for the Raptors right now and he could do the same thing to the three-peat aspiring Warriors.
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