NBA Finals 2019: Klay Thompson and Most Heroic Moments from Warriors vs. Raptors
June 15, 2019
When Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson walked back from the tunnel to shoot free throws in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, everyone knew he was in pain, but no one knew just how much.
Thompson hit the two free throws and then was substituted off the floor by head coach Steve Kerr, which led to his immediate return to the tunnel on his way to the locker room for further evaluation.
Unfortunately for Thompson, he was diagnosed with a torn ACL that will keep him out for a good chunk of the 2019-20 NBA season.
The determination Thompson displayed after suffering his injury in Game 6 was a perfect encapsulation of the fight the Warriors showed over the course of six games in their defeat to the Toronto Raptors.
Just a game before Thompson went down, the Warriors lost Kevin Durant to a torn Achilles in Game 5.
Although he was not at 100 percent, Durant suited up for Golden State with elimination staring the team in the face at Scotiabank Arena.
Before he suffered a much worse injury than the calf strain he was dealing with, Durant reeled off 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, with all of those field goals coming from three-point range.
Even though Golden State had to finish off the victory without Durant, he still made a difference in the short amount of time he played.
Stephen Curry was heroic in his own right for the Warriors, as he tried to pull them back into his series on his own with his teammates injured.
Curry averaged 30.5 points per game in the NBA Finals, and he gave the Warriors an opportunity to win Game 6, despite playing without Durant and Thompson.
Curry scored over 30 points on three occasions in the series, and he was one shot away from forcing a Game 7 in which he would have had to deliver one of the best performances of his career to make up for the injury absences on the road.
Unfortunately for Golden State, those heroic moments could not land it a chance to win its third straight title in Game 7, but it spoke volumes of the type of competitors the Warriors have on their roster.
Toronto received some heroic contributions from its players, but in a different manner than Golden State did.
A few key plays will be forever remembered on Toronto's path to its first championship in franchise history.
In Game 3, Danny Green and Fred VanVleet came up with a pair of clutch plays that will go down in Raptors lore.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Green chased down Quinn Cook in transition and swatted the ball away from the rim.
Toronto continued to lead Game 3 at Oracle Arena, and VanVleet ended up delivering the dagger to the Warriors with a three-point shot that beat the expiration of the shot clock.
Those plays were key in Game 3 because they handed Toronto the first of its three road wins at Oracle Arena, and it set the tone for the series that the Raptors would not be intimidated by the Warriors and their home-court advantage.
One game later, VanVleet lost a tooth after Shawn Livingston's arm inadvertently hit him in the paint.
With a bandage under his eye, VanVleet scored 11 points in Game 5 and 22 points in the series-clinching Game 6.
Throughout the series, each member of Toronto's supporting cast made a difference to ease the pressure off Kawhi Leonard.
Kyle Lowry experienced the largest increase in production, as he turned into the second top scorer on the roster after struggling to find his shot in the early rounds of the playoffs.
But it was Leonard who deservedly earned the Most Valuable Player award for his six 20-plus-point performances.
While Thompson and Durant will go down in Golden State lore for battling through injuries to keep their team alive, Leonard is a hero in Toronto for being a consistent superstar on the court and delivering Toronto its first-ever title.
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Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference.