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NBA Finals 2019: Raptors vs. Warriors TV Schedule and Game 3 Live Stream
June 5, 2019
The NBA Finals is heading back to Oakland for the fifth consecutive year.
Only this time, the series has already started.
The Golden State Warriors enjoyed home-court advantage in their previous four trips to the championship round, but their 57 wins put them one shy of the Toronto Raptors and therefore north of the border to start this series. After rallying to take Game 2, though, the Dubs head back to their friendly confines with a chance to put a stranglehold on this series.
We'll lay out what you need to know for Game 3 after providing the TV and live-stream particulars below.
NBA Finals Game 3
Who: Raptors vs. Warriors
When: Wednesday, June 5 at 9 p.m. ET
Where: Oracle Arena
TV: ABC
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Warriors Injury Updates
While the Warriors have often been their own worst enemy due to complacency and turnover issues, they're facing their biggest internal challenge to date: health woes.
There's no way to positively spin Golden State's recent injury update, other than acknowledging it could've been worse.
The hamstring tightness that forced Klay Thompson to a premature exit from Game 2 won't necessarily keep him out of Game 3, but his status is up in the air. That's not the case for Kevon Looney, who fractured his collar bone in the same contest and is out:
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr confirmed hobbled superstar Kevin Durant (calf strain) will not play Wednesday but is "ramping up" his routines:
Having Thompson available would be huge for the Warriors. With no Durant, Golden State doesn't have a lot of scoring options behind Stephen Curry. As encouraging as DeMarcus Cousins' 28 minutes were Sunday, he still had just 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Thompson is the player who either prevents the Raptors from overcrowding Curry or punishes them for doing so. Prior to his exit, Thompson had totaled 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting (4-of-6 from three). He left at the 7:59 mark of the fourth quarter, and Golden State managed just 11 points and four field goals the rest of the way.
Raptors Living, Dying By Jumper
It feels fitting that the Warriors, the NBA's modern model of consistency, scored exactly 109 points in each of the first two contests.
The Raptors, on the other hand, have seemed a completely different offense each time out.
In Game 1, they erupted for 118 points and saw four different players go for 15-plus. Three nights later, the team's point total tumbled to 104 and just two players cleared the 15-point mark.
The Warriors obviously played a part in that decline. They shifted their defense to pay less attention on Kawhi Leonard and more of it on his supporting cast. They also did a better job of getting back and limiting the Raptors' fast-break points (24 in Game 1, 18 in Game 2).
But a lot came from shot-making, or rather a lack thereof.
"In Game 1, Toronto shot 23-of-56 (41.1 percent) away from the rim," ESPN.com's Kirk Goldsberry wrote. "That slipped to 17-of-64 (26.6 percent) in Game 2. In a game eventually decided by five points, those 47 missed jumpers proved fatal for a team trying to upend a dynasty built around reliable jump-shooters."
The ESPN scribe added Toronto went from hitting 5-of-6 uncontested threes to shooting just 3-of-10 on the same shots. The Raptors' shooting rates fell from all three levels, including a 20.4-percentage point decrease from mid-range (23.1 from 43.5).
Given the high bar for upsetting Golden State—even an injury-riddled version—Toronto must capitalize on the clean looks it gets going forward.