TORONTO — For the first time in NBA history the Finals have been played on foreign soil and it was amazing. The city Toronto and it’s fans all over Canada have been waiting 24 years for this moment and it was everything that they could have imagined. The hype was incredible as folks have been partying since they knocked off of the Bucks to make the Finals last week and now Game 1 was all of that and a bag of Funyuns with a red pop.
The Raptors jumped on the defending NBA Champs in Game 1 beating them 118-109 to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series. Pascal Siakam had on the full clown suit complete with the water spitting flower as he led the Raptors with a playoff career high of 32 points. He also dropped off 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
From the word go you knew that it would be a special night for the Raptors because Kawhi Leonard jumped out of the ride with a fresh 6 to the back with the baby hair glazed to his forehead. You rarely see Kawhi with his joint “fresh to death like a million bucks” like my man Slick Rick would say but it was ready to go or like Big Momma would say, “Ret-To-Go.”
Leonard dropped off a smooth 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists as Marc Gasol had 20 points. Fred VanFleet came out of the bushes on a boy with 15 for good measure. Danny Green wasn’t just standing around watching as he gave them 11 on his way to Big Momma’s house for dinner.
Game 1 was critical, in my opinion, for the Raptors to win because the Warriors had been sitting for more than a week and a half and they were vulnerable. Toronto had to win this one or they would be in trouble even after one game. Once Golden State finds their rhythm again it’s going to be a problem. However, having a game under their belts, the Raptors walk into Game 2 with crazy confidence and a flow that could be extended.
Defending home court in the Finals at least during the first four games is critical. They’ve got the home court advantage for the series so all they’ve got to do is play well at home right? Well…that’s easier said than done. They should have blown Golden State out in Game 1 because the Warriors had been sitting for a long period of time waiting on the Finals to start and Toronto literally just came out of a series last week.
This was the game that they should have blasted them by at least 25 or 30 points but they barely got out of there with their shirts on. That’s a problem. To only win by 9 in a game that shouldn’t have been close causes concern because Siakam isn’t dropping 32 the entire series. Ain’t gone happen.
The Splash Brothers dropped off 55 point between the two of them. Steph Curry put up 34 and Klay Thompson had 21. Draymond came through with a smooth triple double dropping 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. However, no other Warrior had double figures. Every player on the roster that played scored at least 3 points but no one else was in double figures.
Golden State looked as though they were trying to shake the rust off for at least three and a half quarters but by then Toronto’s confidence in getting buckets was through the roof. On to Game 2 and it’s going to be NUTS in Toronto. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Coming out of the bushes: verb phrase – to come off of the bench.
