The
2019 Finals of the National Basketball Association (NBA) will feature two teams
that will make history when the festivities begin on Thursday night at 9 p.m.
on ABC. For the Western Conference representatives from the “Bay Area,” they
are back in the final round of the postseason again seeking another Larry
O’Brien trophy. The Eastern Conference representative from Canada are in The
Finals for the first time in franchise history thanks to a former Finals MVP
whose team will make history playing the first game of The Finals outside the
USA. Here is the J-Speaks NBA Finals preview.
For
the defending back-to-back NBA champion and now five-time Western Conference
champion Golden State Warriors are now four wins away from joining the Los
Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls as the only teams to win
three straight titles.
Their
aforementioned fifth straight Western Conference crown is the longest streak
since the Celtics led by the late great head coach Red Auerbach, and fellow
Hall of Famers Bill Russell, Sam Jones, the late John Havlicek, and John
Thompson made it to The Finals 10 straight times, winning the title nine times
in those 10 chances.
The
Warriors are also seeking to win their fourth title in the last five years,
where they would join the Celtics and Lakers as the only teams to accomplish
that, but they will be without the services of back-to-back Finals MVP Kevin
Durant and fellow perennial All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins,
who was getting his first taste of the postseason in his career has been on the
shelf since suffering a torn quadriceps muscle in Game 2 of the First-Round
versus the Los Angeles Clippers on Apr. 15 practiced with the team at the start
of this week, scrimmaging twice with the second unit, according to Marc J.
Spears of ESPN’s “The Undefeated.”
“It’s
just about getting my body in shape,” Cousins told Spears after Monday’s
practice. “My quad muscle in shape and go through the different phases and
ups-and-downs of the game. It has been a tough week. I’ve been working my tail
off to get to this point. But I am healthy enough.”
Warriors
head coach Steve Kerr, who won five titles as a player for the Bulls in the
middle 1990s and two with the San Antonio Spurs said that Cousins has made good
progress in recovering from his injury but deciding when he will return is
proving to be a tough balance for the team. Also, Cousins according to Coach
Kerr is not moving up and down the court to the point where he can be cleared
to return to game action.
“DeMarcus
is making good progress right now,” Coach Kerr said, via ESPN. The timing of
this whole thing is tricky because he misses two months. It always takes big
guys longer to find their rhythm; the speed of their game is so fast. If this
was the regular season, this would be simple: Put him back in the starting
lineup, and give him his minutes, and let him work his way back in and find his
rhythm. It’d be an easy one. But we’re going into Game 1 of The Finals.”
Kerr
added via ESPN, “The good news is his body feels good, his quad feels good, but
he’s working his way back into shape and into rhythm, so this is not a simple
dynamic for him, and I feel bad for him. This one of the reasons why he came to
this team: It was to be in the playoffs and hopefully go to The Finals. We are,
and with Game 1 just a few days away, it’s not an easy position to be in.”
Durant,
whose averaged 34.2 points on 51.3 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from
three-point range has been on the shelf since straining his left calf in Game 5
of the West Semifinals against the Houston Rockets is traveling with the team,
according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports to Toronto, but has been ruled out
of at least Game 1 of The Finals as he continues to recover.
“KD’s
not playing in Game 1,” Coach Kerr said on Monday, via The Mercury News. “We’ll see where it goes from here. The fact
there’s a lot of days in between games in The Finals helps us. So, we’ll see.”
The
Warriors have rolled quite impressively and surprisingly the last five full
games without KD, especially in the Western Conference Finals sweeping the No.
3 Seeded Portland Trail Blazers 4-0.
Their
5-0 mark dating back to Game 6 of the West Semis against the Rockets, who they
took down in six games has been because the “Splash Brothers” of two-time Kia
MVP Stephen Curry and fellow perennial All-Star Klay Thompson has played at the
level on both ends of the floor that helped them win their first title in 2015
and 73 games the next season, which saw them fall short of back-to-back titles
in 2016 falling to the former five-time Eastern Conference champion Cleveland
Cavaliers in seven games.
Since
losing Durant in the third quarter of their 104-99 win in Game 5 on May 8,
Curry has scored over 30 points in the last five playoff games all Warriors
victories beginning with a 33-point effort, where he overcame foul trouble and
the first scoreless half of his playoff career to help his team eliminate the
Rockets in Game 6 118-113 in Game 6 two nights later, going 9 for 20 shooting
with four three-pointers and a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line.
In
the Conference Finals against the Trail Blazers, Curry performed at the level
that mirrored his 2015-16 unanimous MVP season averaging 36.5 points, the most
by a player in a four-game series sweep, with 8.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists, on
47.1 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three-point range.
To
put into context how good Curry was in the series, he scored 37 points in Games
2 and 4 and 36 points in Games 1 and 3. In the Game 4 clincher that got the
Warriors back to The Finals, 119-117 in overtime on May 20 at the Trail Blazers
Curry had his first triple-double this postseason with 13 rebounds and 11
assists to go along with his 37 points, on 11 for 25 shooting including 7 for
16 from three-point range in 47 minutes.
If
Curry brings that level of play in The Finals against the Raptors, who has led
the Warriors to a 15-2 mark in his career, averaging 28.6 points, both the best
marks against one team in his career, the Warriors will be in great shape to
win their fourth title in the last five seasons, but would love to have Durant
and Cousins back to make that dream more of a reality.
“We’re
trying to chase another championship and no matter how we get it done, you got
to enjoy it. So, hopefully we get KD back, DeMarcus back and go ahead, and win
this ring,” Curry said after Game 4 to ESPN/ABC’s Doris Burke.
While
by the overall offensive numbers of 21.5 points on 37.8 percent from the field
and only 33.3 percent from three-point range he did not have a big impact in
the series against the Trail Blazers, Thompson was solid, especially at the
defensive end.
The
dynamic starting backcourt of the Trail Blazers in Damian Lillard and CJ
McCollum connected on just 59 for 154 (38.3 percent) of their shots in the
series because of the constant pressure they faced from Thompson and the
collective effort at the defensive end against them.
Thompson
defense on the final possession was key as Lillard’s game-winning triple from
the right corner with 03.3 seconds left in overtime fell short.
A
big part of that defensive effort and the overall focus throughout the playoffs
but especially the last two rounds has been All-Star and 2017 Kia Defensive
Player of the Year Draymond Green.
After
a rough regular season in terms of his offensive production of 7.4 points, 7.3
rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 block shots per game on 44.5 percent from the
field, Green through the first three rounds of the postseason has averaged 13.6
points, 9.9 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.7 blocks, on 52.1 percent from the
field.
In
the Game 4 clincher against at the Trail Blazers, Green had 18 points, 14
rebounds, 11 and 11 assists with three steals and two blocks in 43 minutes.
He
and Curry became the first teammates in NBA Playoff history to record a
triple-double in the same postseason contest. The four triple-doubles Green has
registered this postseason are ted for the most in a single postseason in the
last 35 years, since five-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic”
Johnson had five triple-doubles in the 1984 Playoffs.
Green’s
determination and energy were key in Game 3 of the Conference Finals as the
Warriors illustrated a 26-point turnaround coming back from 15 points down at
one point in the game to winning Game 3 110-99 on May 18 to take a commanding
3-0 series lead.
When
Green has registered a triple-double in his career, both the regular season and
postseason, the Warriors are 28-1, with the only loss coming in the 126-121
loss in Game 3 of the Semis at the Rockets, where he had 19 points, 11 rebounds
and 10 assists.
“I’m
not capable of doing what Kevin Durant does on the basketball floor. No one
else on this team is, or DeMarcus,” Green said on Sunday to reporters. “So,
collectively we got to do that. So, I just try to take it upon myself to do my
part and also try to create a pace that I know we can be successful.”
The
Warriors playoff motto these last five postseasons has been “Strength in
Numbers,” and nowhere has that been truer than in the 2019 postseason than the
play of the supporting cast of 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney,
Quinn Cook, Shaun Livingston, rookie Alfonzo McKinnie, Jordan Bell, Jonas Jerebko,
and Andrew Bogut.
One
of the things that Coach Kerr learned in his time with the Spurs under head
coach Gregg Popovich was the value of playing the entire roster in spurts
during the regular season. So, if they are called upon in a pinch like they
have during this postseason, the moment is not too big for them.
That
has been the case this postseason and the role players for the Warriors have
shined brightly, playing their roles to perfection, and doing just whatever is
necessary on both ends of the floor to keep the team winning without Durant and
Cousins.
That
is how the Warriors have gone the last three seasons, including this regular
season and postseason 35-4 when Curry is in the lineup and Durant is out,
including 7-0 this postseason. That is how the Warriors have gone 18-7 in close
out games since the 2015 postseason and how they have gone an NBA record 22
straight series winning at least on road game. It is also how you are a team
that can overcome deficits of 17, 15 and 17 in Games 2, 3 and 4 against the
Trail Blazers in the Conference Finals.
Iguodala,
who is probable for Game 1 of The Finals after injuring his left calf in Game 3
of the West Finals last weekend has scored eight points or more in 12 of 15
games played this postseason.
“When
you are a threat out there, it’ll open it up for another guy, who the other
team wouldn’t quite give as much respect to, you know,” Iguodala said in the
off day between Games 2 and 3 of the West Finals.
Looney
had 14 points and five boards off the bench in the close out Game 6 win at the
Rockets in the Semis and had his first double-double of this postseason with 12
points and 14 rebounds in the Game 4 clincher of the Conference Finals at the
Trail Blazers.
“We
know we have a lot of fire power on our team, you know. When we go down 10, 15
Coach [Kerr] always tells (us), ‘We can get back in it in a second. We just got
to play defense and get stops,’” Looney said to TNT/NBATV’s Dennis Scott on May
17 after scoring 14 points with seven rebounds in the 114-111 victory versus
the Trail Blazers in Game 2 on May 16 on ESPN.
“Steph
and Klay deserve a lot of attention from the other team and they got trapped a
lot. So, we’re used to catching the ball in the pocket and they always tell us
to be aggressive and make the right play.”
“We
got guys like Andre and Draymond, whose some of the smartest players in the
league. SO, we know on the backside as the big, you know, if you’re in the
right spot you usually going to score.”
Bell,
who had 11 points off the bench in the Game 2 win added by saying about the
supporting cast to All-Star “Core Four” of Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green,
“Most guys on this team were on the team last year. So, we understand like what
it feels like to win an NBA championship. So, we know when it’s the time to
step up when our names called, we’ve got to produce.”
That
production will be necessary against a Raptors team that the Warriors lost both
meetings to during the regular season. They were outscored in those two games
on average of 122.0 to 110.5. The Warriors in those meetings shot just 30
percent from three-point range and managed just 11.0 fast break points in those
losses.
Durant,
who as mentioned, who will not be available at the start of these Finals
averaged 40.5 points and nine rebounds on 58.5 percent shooting against the
Raptors in the two regular season tilts, which includes a double-double of 51
points with 11 rebounds and six assists on 18 for 31 shooting including 4 for 7
from three-point range and 11 for 12 from the charity stripe in the 131-128
overtime loss on Nov. 29, 2018 on TNT.
For
the Eastern Conference representative in the Toronto Raptors, they are making
their first appearance in The Finals in franchise history because of the high
risk but now high reward moves made by President Masai Ujiri back in the 2018
off-season.
While
they have registered 56, 51, and 59 wins
the prior three seasons, Ujiri felt moves were necessary after noted public
enemy No. 1 in four-time Kia MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have
swept the Raptors out of the postseason 4-0 in 2017 and 2018 in the Semifinals
and in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016.
In
the summer of 2018 Ujiri fired the winningest coach in franchise history and
the eventual Kia Coach of the Year Dwane Casey. He then traded the second-most
popular player in team history in All-Star DeMar DeRozan, along with reserve
big man Jakob Poeltl to the San Antonio Spurs for disgruntled 2014 Finals MVP
and two-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard and veteran
sharp-shooter Danny Green.
This
trade made sense on the surface because after James’ buzzer beating runner in
Game 3 of the 2018 Semis that gave the Raptors a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Ujiri was quite upset after the loss that he had some harsh words for Coach
Casey, according to those that stood behind the closed doors of the locker
room.
In
the end, Casey lost his job after the team was blown out in Game 4 as the
Cavaliers completed the sweep and was replaced by five-year assistant Nick
Nurse.
The
acquisition of Leonard was large part of the team finding a player who can take
over a game, especially a playoff game and possibly a series.
The
trick was to find one and the Raptors did find a distressed one.
The
then New Jersey Nets did something similar to this in the summer of 2001 when a
domestic violence incident tossed now Hall of Famer Jason Kidd out from the
Phoenix Suns via trade and landing with the Nets, who he led to back-to-back
NBA Finals appearances in 2001 and 2002 losing to the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe
Bryant led Lakers and Tim Duncan and now Hall of Famer David Robinson-led
Spurs. While he was not a franchise-changing player in the traditional sense,
Rasheed Wallace wound up being the missing piece when he was acquired via trade
by the Detroit Pistons from the Atlanta Hawks in 15 years ago and led to them
to a five-game upset of the Lakers in The Finals. Going back even further, in
1975, Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar asked the Milwaukee Bucks to trade him
and he landed with the Lakers, just five seasons before the start of the
“Showtime” era, which produced five titles in nine seasons during the 1980s.
Limited
to just nine games in 2017-18 because of a quad injury along with the lost in
trust between him and the Spurs, the elite franchise in “The Association,”
Leonard was on the market and Ujiri pounced.
The
main gamble with the move is that with James gone from the East, joining the
Lakers via free agency, the Raptors chances of representing the East in The
Finals grew, despite the non-guarantee of Leonard re-signing when he becomes an
unrestricted free agent this summer.
For
those who thought that Raptors’ nation would be angry about seeing the
most-popular Raptor ever leave need to pay closer attention. DeRozan unlike
Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Chris Bosh and even Damon Stoudamire wanted to
stay and win with the Raptors.
The
only person upset by trade was DeRozan’s fellow backcourt mate and best friend
on the team in perennial All-Star lead guard Kyle Lowry. He was so upset about
the trade that he did not speak Ujiri until February.
Around
that same time is when Ujiri made another bold move at the February trade
deadline sending center Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a 2024
Second-Round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for All-Star center and former Kia
Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol.
Those
moves that were risky then have paid off big time. The Raptors won 58 games in
the regular season, capturing the No. 2 Seed in the East.
The
team did everything to keep Leonard’s workload down during the regular season
and it has paid off as he is as elite as ever in the 2019 Playoffs, thanks to
the organization from the front office to his teammates to the coaching staff
being completely behind him.
Leonard
rewarded that good faith by having stellar postseason which has seen him a
willing volume shooter, that has resulted in him slicing-and-dicing the
defenses of the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks this
postseason with averages of 31.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals on 50.7
percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three-point range.
While
he has maintained his exceptional play at the defensive end, Leonard has also
shown a knack of breaking the heart of the opponent at the buzzer in the
playoffs, like he did when he capped his 41-point night, going 16 for 39
shooting with four-bounce buzzer beating jumper in Game 7 of the East Semis
that ended the season for the No. 3 Seeded Philadelphia 76ers 92-90 on May 12.
In
the game-clinching 100-94 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals last
Saturday night versus the No. 1 Seeded Milwaukee Bucks, Leonard had 19 of his
27 points in the second half with a career-high of 17 rebounds and seven
assists, with two steals and two blocks in helping the Raptors overcome a
15-point third quarter deficit.
“I
think we were more aggressive on the defensive end, and obviously we made
shots,” Leonard, whose team overcame a 14-point deficit in the first quarter to
win Game 5 two days earlier 105-99 to take a 3-2 series lead said to TNT’s
Kristen Ledlow after the Game 6 win. “Guys stepped up and was confident and
knocked down shots.”
Ujiri
during the Eastern Conference trophy presentation after the Game 6 clincher,
where the Raptors outscored the Bucks 39-18 after trailing 76-61 in the third
quarter about Leonard, “He’s been unbelievable. Is the best player in the
league and we’re happy he is in Toronto.”
As
good as Leonard has been this postseason, the Raptors are not four wins away
from an NBA title without the play of Lowry, who was all in after clearing the
air with Ujiri after that meeting in February is averaging 14.7 points, 6.4
assists and 5.2 rebounds in the 2019 Playoffs.
The
Philadelphia, PA native was especially at his best in the Conference Finals
averaging 19.2 points, 5.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds on 50.9 percent from the
floor and 48.8 percent from three-point range.
He
had 25 points, with six assists and five boards, making three three-points and
all 10 of his free throws. Lowry had 17 points with seven rebounds and six
assists in the aforementioned Game 5 win and followed that up with 17 points,
eight assists and five boards.
If
there is anyone who understands the value of this moment is Lowry, whose been
through all the low points in the postseason with the Raptors and he said after
the Game 6 win thanked the fans for all there support even through those tough
postseason conclusions at the hands of the Cavaliers the past two years.
“It
means a lot. I’ve been here the longest now in seven years. It’s been the best
seven years of my career,” Lowry said to TNT’s Ernie Johnson during the East
championship trophy ceremony following the Game 6 clinching win. “These fans
have been here since Day One since I’ve been here and these group of guys [his
teammates] I’ve got back here were special.”
Those
group of guys Lowry referred to include the Kia Most Improved Player to be in
Pascal Siakam who is averaging 18.7 points and seven rebounds this postseason,
on 45.8 percent shooting.
Timely
contributions from Gasol, who had 16 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and
five blocks, going 4 for 8 from three-point range in the Raptors 118-112
overtime win in Game 3 that cut the Bucks series lead to 2-1. That was followed
by 17 points with seven assists and two block shots in the team’s 120-102 win
in Game 4 to tie the series at 2-2.
Fellow
forward Serge Ibaka, whose play has been up-and-down during these playoffs had
a stellar double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds in the aforementioned Game
4 win versus the Bucks.
Prior
to the Eastern Conference Finals, reserve wing player Norman Powell had not
seen much action, except for the end of the opening-round against the Magic,
and fellow reserve Fred VanVleet had been in a serious shooting slump.
Powell,
a 2015 Second-Round pick out of UCLA was sensational in Games 2, 3 and 4
against the Bucks scoring 14, 19 and 18 points respectably off the bench,
averaging 12.3 points for the series on 47.1 percent from the field, and 52.6
percent from three-point range.
Going
back to the Semis against the 76ers to Game 3 of the Conference Finals VanVleet
had gone 3 for his last 24 from three-point range. After the birth of his
second child and first son on May 20, things turnaround for the second-year
guard out of Wichita State making 14 of his last 17 triples and scoring 13, 21,
and 14 points the final three games against the Bucks. In the Raptors Game 5
win that got them within one game of going to The Finals, VanVleet had 21
points off the bench, hitting a career-high seven threes in nine attempts.
The
other key to the Raptors success in the postseason this time around unlike the
prior four seasons is Coach Nurse has made the necessary in-game and in-series
adjustment that Coach Casey had not made in prior playoff runs.
Along
with those adjustment, it also took a lot of luck like All-Star Joel Embiid of
the Sixers not being 100 percent in that series. Leonard getting the luck of
the bounce in the game-clinching jumper against the Sixers. How VanVleet
rediscovered how to make shots. Having the guts to trade for Leonard, Green and
Gasol not knowing how it would work is the kind of gamble most NBA executives
do not make.
For
both the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, they are at the doorstep of
an NBA championship because in their own ways they simply rose to the moment
and never second guessed their choices.
It
is because of that the Warriors are in The Finals for a fifth consecutive
season and are four wins away from their third straight Larry O’Brien trophy
and fourth in the past five seasons. While they will be without Kevin Durant
and DeMarcus Cousins to start this series, they still have Stephen Curry, Klay
Thompson and Draymond Green and a supporting cast that will be up for the
challenge.
“We’re
trying to get a win,” Green said to Scott after the Warriors Game 4 win about
facing either the Raptors or Bucks in The Finals. “It would be great if we can
get our three guys back healthy.”
“That
would make things not necessarily say easy because no Finals is easy. But, you
know, it would make it a lot better for us. Nonetheless, no matter whose out
there we got to continue to do what we do.”
What
is in the Warriors favor if nothing else is the fact that they have had nine
days off in the lead up to this appearance in The Finals. In the years they
have had seven or more days off in 2015, and 2017 they have been on the winning
end of things. The two times that they have had just 48 hours to prepare for
the Cavaliers, they are 1-1, losing in the 2016 Finals in seven games.
On
May 24, 1994, the Toronto Raptors came into existence. When they punched their
ticket to The Finals with their Game 6 victory last Saturday night versus the
Bucks, it was their 100th playoff game in franchise history and one
that for the moment wiped away all the disappointing finishes in the postseason
the prior three seasons.
It
was validation for the moves made by Masai Ujiri and Raptors’ Chairman and
Chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Lawrence M. Tannenbaum not
just in the summer of 2018 but over the past four seasons both in the
off-season and in-season.
The
future for the Raptors is still in doubt because of the impending free agency
of Kawhi Leonard. That said, he has been a huge part in them getting to point
where they could be NBA champions.
They
have a tall task ahead of them in trying to take down the back-to-back
defending NBA champion Warriors but the entire team feels it can be done and
are confident if they bring their A-game to the table.
“We’re
very appreciative and these guys are unbelievable. Unbelievable team. It’s all
about the players and these guys have been great. But we’re not satisfied
because we want to win a championship,” Ujiri said on Saturday night. “We came
all this way to compete and we want to win in Toronto, and we will win in
Toronto.”
Information,
statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 2/7/19 5 p.m. edition NBATV’s “The
Starters,” presented by Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee
Honey with Tas Melas, J.E. Skeets, Leigh Ellis, and Trey Kerby; 5/17/19 3 p.m.
“NBA: The Jump,” fueled by Marathon with Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst and
Scottie Pippen; 5/17/19 11 p.m. edition “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on
TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/19/19
8 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Jared Greenberg, Isiah Thomas, and
Grant Hill; 5/19/19 7 p.m. Game 3 Eastern Conference Finals “Milwaukee Bucks
versus Toronto Raptors,” presented by Google Pixel on TNT with Marv Albert,
Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/19/19 11 p.m. edition
“Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith,
Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/20/19 9 p.m. Game 4 Western Conference
Finals “Golden State Warriors versus Portland Trail Blazers,” presented by
Google Next on ESPN with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Doris
Burke; 5/20/19 11:30 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with Steve Levy and
John Buccigross; 5/21/19 ESPN news crawl; 5/21/19 11 p.m. edition “Inside the
NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley,
and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/28/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with
Rachel Nichols, Ramona Shelburne, and Richard Jefferson; 5/25/19 8 p.m. TNT’s
“NBA Tip-Off,” presented by Autotrader with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles
Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/25/19 www.nba.com story, “Finals Preview: Durant’s
Status Looms Large As Warriors Face Raptors,” by Shaun Powell; 5/25/19 NBATV
news crawl; 5/25/19 8:30 p.m. Game 6 Eastern Conference Finals “Milwaukee Bucks
versus Toronto Raptors,” presented by Google Pixel on TNT with Marv Albert,
Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/26/19 www.nba.com story, “High-Rise, High-Reward Trade
for Leonard Looks Golden As Raptors Ride Him To Finals,” by Shaun Powell;
5/27/19 ESPN news crawl; 5/27/19 www.nba.com story, “Numbers Preview: The
Finals—Toronto Raptors versus Golden State Warriors,” by John Schuhmann;
5/28/19 www.nba.com story, “Cousins Questionable, Durant
Out for Game 1;” www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3202/kevin-durant; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6589/draymond-green;
www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3155535/kevon-looney;
www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2386/andre-iguodala;
www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3012/kyle-lowry; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3206/marc-gasol;
www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2595516/norman-powell;
www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2991230/fred-vanvleet;
www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/6450/kawhi-leonard;
and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Toronto_Raptors_seasons.
