Hi Guys, I’m so excited!
The Finals will start here north of the border on Thursday May 30, 2019 for the first time ever! The city of Toronto and country is hyped and in a frenzy. Jurassic Park is alive and well! The 6ix is on the Basketball World for the first time. May I say Oh Canada. It will be far from easy for the Raptors to capture their first NBA Championship.
The Golden State Warriors are absolutely no slouch. They are going for 4th title in five years. Amazingly it is their fifth straight Finals appearance. They are a true dynasty and the gold standard in the NBA. Before the start of their dynasty in 2015, the Warriors had not won any championship in 40 years, 1975 to be exact. The Warriors left the Bay area on Tuesday and jetted for Toronto.
The offensive juggernaut Warriors will not have Kevin Durant when the series begins on Thursday due to a calf injury. He hurt himself on during non contact play in the third quarter of game 5 against the Houston Rockets. Kevin is likely to miss game 2 as well on Sunday. The word is around the league that KD will join his team in Oracle in Oakland for Game number 3. The Warriors have yet to lose a game. Since then, going on to sweep the Portland Trailblazers in very dominant fashion. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson absolutely torched the Blazers in the four game sweep. Remember fans, the Raptors have a home court advantage by virtue of their two wins against Golden State in regular season.
In my opinion, Raptors have plenty of confidence because of those two wins. Also, having a home court in the NBA finals means a lot. This is the time in their five 5 year run that the Warriors will open up the Finals on the road and not in the East Bay.
The Toronto Raptors have Kawhi Lenoard (The Claw). I believe he’s the best player in NBA today. He will be the difference in the Finals. The Claw will be the reason Toronto will be NBA Champions in a few weeks. He’s the best player in NBA Playoffs by far because of his 32 points a game in these Playoffs. Kawhi is already the leading Playoff scorer. The way he glides around the court with such ease is very Michael Jordan eques, getting to his spots with such ease and precision and scoring at will. If it’s even possible Kawhi is even better with his huge hands combined with his defensive tenacity allows him to snatch the ball away from anyone at any time during the game. There’s a reason he’s been defensive player of the year before.
In all my years of watching basketball I have never seen a player like Kawhi. He’s a silent assassin and in his words a very fun guy… laugh out loud! Kawhi had an amazing 27 points a carer 17 rebounds and 7 assists in the game 6 close out Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, to punch the Toronto Raptors ticket to the Finals for the first time in Franchise history.
Kawhi Lenoard’s supporting cast has played really well. Starting with Kyle Lowry; this Finals and potential Championship cements Kyle Lowry Legacy in Toronto forever and nobody can take that away for him. Kyle is the longest serving Raptor on the team. This being his 7th year with them. The emerging Superstar Pascal Siakam has played very well. Fred VanVleet has hitting 14 of 17 three pointers, in the Eastern Conference against the Bucks. Fred had the greatest three game shooting stretch in NBA Playoff History. Everybody Chipped in, even Storming Norman Powell and Marc Gasol.
In my very humble opinion, if Kawhi turns out to bolt from Raptors and goes south in Free Agency in July, he will still be regarded as the best player in Toronto Raptors history! For the simple fact, he has led them to heights they have never gone before! Hopefully The NBA Championship Trophy will reside North of the Border in a couple of weeks.
I say Kawhi not???
