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by Julian Spivey Major League Baseball changed up the way of selecting the starting lineups for the All Star Game this season. Fans still get to choose which eight position players make the midsummer classic, but there are now two types of fan-voting. The first, which has already taken place, eliminated most of the field down to three finalists (nine for the outfield), of which the fans will vote from to select the eventual starter. This run-off for the starting lineup will begin on Wednesday, June 26 at 11 a.m. (central standard time) and last only 28 hours with the winners announced on ESPN on Thursday, June 27 at 6 p.m. Catcher Robinson Chirinos (Houston Astros): .234 BA, 12 HR, 38 RBI, .368 OBP, 2.6 WAR James McCann (Chicago White Sox): .319 BA, 7 HR, 21 RBI, .380 OBP, 2.5 WAR Gary Sanchez (New York Yankees): .274 BA, 23 HR, 52 RBI, .340 OBP, 2.7 WAR
First Base C.J. Cron (Minnesota Twins): .285 BA, 17 HR, 50 RBI, .349 OBP, 2.1 WAR Carlos Santana (Cleveland Indians): .292 BA, 16 HR, 46 RBI, .415 OBP, 2.6 WAR Luke Voit (New York Yankees): .268 BA, 17 HR, 46 RBI, .388 OBP, 1.5 WAR
Second Base Jose Altuve (Houston Astros): .247 BA, 9 HR, 21 RBI, .328 OBP, 0.3 WAR Tommy La Stella (Los Angeles Angels): .295 BA, 15 HR, 41 RBI, .349 OBP, 1.6 WAR D.J. LeMahieu (New York Yankees): .316 BA, 9 HR, 48 RBI, .365 OBP, 2.8 WAR
Third Base Alex Bregman (Houston Astros): .263 BA, 21 HR, 51 RBI, .391 OBP, 3.8 WAR Hunter Dozier (Kansas City Royals): .307 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI, .396 OBP, 2.1 WAR Gio Urshela (New York Yankees): .306 BA, 6 HR, 36 RBI, .358 OBP, 0.8 WAR
Shortstop Carlos Correa (Houston Astros): .295 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI, .360 OBP, 1.8 WAR Jorge Polanco (Minnesota Twins): .324 BA, 11 HR, 38 RBI, .383 OBP, 3.8 WAR Gleyber Torres (New York Yankees): .287 BA, 18 HR, 45 RBI, .347 OBP, 2.2 WAR
Outfield Mookie Betts (Boston Red Sox): .264 BA, 12 HR, 35 RBI, .387 OBP, 3.2 WAR Michael Brantley (Houston Astros): .320 BA, 11 HR, 42 RBI, .378 OBP, 2.4 WAR Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers): .276 BA, 17 HR, 41 RBI, .421 OBP, 3.1 WAR Aaron Judge (New York Yankees): .266 BA, 5 HR, 11 RBI, .385 OBP, 1.1 WAR Austin Meadows (Tampa Bay Rays): .301 BA, 12 HR, 38 RBI, .373 OBP, 1.9 WAR Josh Reddick (Houston Astros): .293 BA, 9 HR, 28 RBI, .335 OBP, 0.9 WAR Eddie Rosario (Minnesota Twins): .269 BA, 19 HR, 56 RBI, .300 OBP, 1.8 WAR George Springer (Houston Astros): .308 BA, 17 HR, 43 RBI, .389 OBP, 2.6 WAR Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels): .307 BA, 22 HR, 56 RBI, .468 OBP, 5.4 WAR
Designated Hitter Nelson Cruz (Minnesota Twins): .266 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI, .357 OBP, 1.2 WAR
J.D. Martinez (Boston Red Sox): .288 BA, 16 HR, 42 RBI, .365 OBP, 1.4 WAR Hunter Pence (Texas Rangers): .294 BA, 15 HR, 48 RBI, .353 OBP, 1.4 WAR
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by Julian Spivey Major League Baseball changed up the way of selecting the starting lineups for the All Star Game this season. Fans still get to choose which eight position players make the midsummer classic, but there are now two types of fan-voting. The first, which has already taken place, eliminated most of the field down to three finalists (nine for the outfield), of which the fans will vote from to select the eventual starter. This run-off for the starting lineup will begin on Wednesday, June 26 at 11 a.m. (central standard time) and last only 28 hours with the winners announced on ESPN on Thursday, June 27 at 6 p.m. Catcher Willson Contreras (Chicago Cubs): .290 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI, .386 OBP, 1.9 WAR Yasmani Grandal (Milwaukee Brewers): .274 BA, 17 HR, 45 RBI, .383 OBP, 2.1 WAR Brian McCann (Atlanta Braves): .287 BA, 7 HR, 29 RBI, .355 OBP, 0.3 WAR
First Base Josh Bell (Pittsburgh Pirates): .313 BA, 20 HR, 66 RBI, .384 OBP, 2.8 WAR Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves): .318 BA, 21 HR, 61 RBI, .407 OBP, 3.2 WAR Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs): .275 BA, 19 HR, 53 RBI, .385 OBP, 2.1 WAR
Second Base Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves): .284 BA, 11 HR, 40 RBI, .344 OBP, 1.5 WAR Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks): .309 BA, 20 HR, 51 RBI, .359 OBP, 3.6 WAR Mike Moustakas (Milwaukee Brewers): .281, 22 HR, 46 RBI, .360 OBP, 2.8 WAR
Third Base Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies): .325 BA, 19 HR, 62 RBI, .387 OBP, 3.2 WAR Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs): .285 BA, 15 HR, 39 RBI, .394 OBP, 2.2 WAR Josh Donaldson (Atlanta Braves): .260 BA, 14 HR, 36 RBI, .364 OBP, 2.3 WAR
Shortstop Javier Baez (Chicago Cubs): .281 BA, 18 HR, 48 RBI, .321 OBP, 3.0 WAR Trevor Story (Colorado Rockies): .294 BA, 17 HR, 48 RBI, .360 OBP, 3.1 WAR Dansby Swanson (Atlanta Braves): .263 BA, 14 HR, 47 RBI, .328 OBP, 1.3 WAR
Outfield Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta Braves): .288 BA, 17 HR, 49 RBI, .370 OBP, 2.6 WAR
Albert Almora (Chicago Cubs): .249 BA, 7 HR, 22 RBI, .290 OBP, 0.7 WAR Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers): .353 BA, 25 HR, 61 RBI, .447 OBP, 6.3 WAR Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies): .332 BA, 18 HR, 49 RBI, .377 OBP, 1.6 WAR Jason Heyward (Chicago Cubs): .256 BA, 10 HR, 26 RBI, .351 OBP, 0.5 WAR Nick Markakis (Atlanta Braves): .276 BA, 6 HR, 42 RBI, .362 OBP, 0.9 WAR Joc Pederson (Los Angeles Dodgers): .236 BA, 20 HR, 36 RBI, .332 OBP, 1.8 WAR Kyle Schwarber (Chicago Cubs): .231 BA, 16 HR, 35 RBI, .324 OBP, 0.3 WAR Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers): .345 BA, 29 HR, 62 RBI, .439 OBP, 4.7 WAR
5. Nick Markakis 6. Joc Pederson I don’t believe Nick Markakis of the Atlanta Braves or Joc Pederson of the L.A. Dodgers should be All Stars this season, but ultimately their positions here (although I can’t stand Pederson’s hit a homer, walk or strikeout game) aren’t near as bothersome as the Chicago Cubs trio below. The outfield spots in the fan voting this year are really the only spots they screwed up. 7. Jason Heyward 8. Kyle Schwarber 9. Albert Almora Chicago Cubs fans have basically turned the nine-position finalist outfield slot into a joke by stuffing the ballot box for three of their guys who have absolutely no business near the All Star Game this season. I sincerely hope there’s enough votes all-around to keep Almora, Heyward and Schwarber out of the game.  by Julian Spivey “Have at it, boys,” was a statement made almost a decade ago in 2010 by former NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. The statement was made because some fans had felt the sport had become too sterile and drivers were no longer allowed to police one another on the track. But we would learn over the years that “have at it, boys” or “boys, have at it” (as most called it) wasn’t an allowance to do whatever you pleased on the track in retaliation to others. In the past NASCAR has suspended drivers like Kyle Busch (one week in 2011 for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in a truck series event) and Matt Kenseth (two weeks for intentionally wrecking Joey Logano in the 2015 playoffs) for essentially safety reasons. The problem is that, much like with other things in the sport of NASCAR, the governing body isn’t consistent with its rulings in such events. Jeff Gordon was not suspended in 2012 for intentionally wrecking Clint Bowyer in Phoenix being likely the biggest example of this. Many assumed that the days of “boys, have at it” and drivers policing themselves on track were done after Kenseth’s 2015 suspension set a precedent. But, if you were to wreck someone under green flag racing conditions you could honestly likely get away with it, as long as you didn’t make it look as intentional as Kenseth did with Logano. During the most recent NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, June 16 there was an incident during caution where former series champion Johnny Sauter intentionally wrecked Austin Hill for intentionally wrecking him under green the lap prior. The whole thing began when Sauter had bumped Hill out of the way a few laps before. Basically, Sauter put an accepted racing move on Hill and Hill didn’t like it so did something generally accepted as a cheap move by wrecking Sauter. Sauter got his revenge by effectively ruining Hill’s day after Hill had basically ended his … that is the definition of “boys, have at it.” That is the way NASCAR had run for literally decades. People are split on the way that Sauter got his revenge by intentionally putting Hill into the wall under a caution when other trucks were running at slower pace speeds and NASCAR has seemingly determined that any driver doing this going forward will be suspended. But, to me it feels like the worst suspension in the history of NASCAR. If anybody was at fault in this whole scenario for me it’s clearly Hill who took a bump and turned it into something dirty. Sure, it might have been to everybody’s preference, including mine, had Sauter waited until after the race and knocked Hill’s teeth out with his fence instead of using his truck as a de facto weapon, but in that scenario it’s possible Hill could’ve gone on to win the race and how would Sauter have felt then? Much has been made about how NASCAR has been losing audiences both on television and with attendance at the race tracks over the last few years and something like what Sauter did on Sunday is a great way to get people talking about this sport – you’ll notice I haven’t written anything else about NASCAR recently, but was passionate enough about this topic to write this piece. Suspending drivers for having emotion and standing up for themselves is bad for the sport and this suspension of Sauter (easily one of the series’ five most popular drivers) for this upcoming weekend’s race at Gateway Speedway outside of St. Louis, where there isn’t another NASCAR series racing this weekend, is going to negatively impact that event.  by Julian Spivey
The game of basketball was created by a Canadian named James Naismith. The first ever NBA game took place in Toronto on Nov. 1, 1946 when the Toronto Huskies (which haven’t even been a team since that inaugural season ended!) hosted the New York Knicks. Now more than 72 years later the country of Canada has its first ever NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors defeating the two-time reigning champion Golden State Warriors in six games. All Star forward Kawhi Leonard would be named NBA Finals MVP with a stellar series in which he averaged 28.5 points per game on 43 percent shooting. Leonard scored 22 points with six rebounds in the game six clincher, including the final points of the game at the free-throw line. Leonard can be crowned a “dynasty killer” as he’s now ended the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors dynasties after each team had won back-to-back titles before losing to a Leonard-led team. Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs defeated LeBron James and the Heat in 2014. Leonard’s performance In 2014 and his Finals MVP this year make him the first player in NBA history to win the honor in each conference. Game six was a hard fought battle from start-to-finish between the Raptors and the Warriors with the lead changing back-and-forth many times throughout the game. When it came down to the final seconds of the game the Warriors, down one point, had a shot to win the game and send it back to Toronto for a game seven. Warriors star guard Stephen Curry missed a decent look at a game-winning three with a tap out ending up near half-court and in the hands of Warriors all-star forward Draymond Green who mistakenly called a timeout without the Warriors having any left, which is a technical foul by rule. That’s probably irrelevant, though, because with less than a second remaining the clock would’ve run out before the Warriors would’ve had time to get up another shot. Game six, like the series as a whole, was brutally changed due to injury when the Warriors leading scorer on the night Klay Thompson, who had 30 points in less than three full quarters, went down with a knee injury toward the end of the third quarter and could not return. It was Thompson’s second injury of the series with a hamstring issue keeping him out of game three, which the Raptors won in Oakland. It’s always hard to watch a championship series that you know injuries had a major impact on because it’s always going to leave question marks in your mind. I don’t believe the Raptors would’ve won this series had the Warriors been completely healthy. I’m not even sure the Raptors would’ve won this series had Thompson not missed almost a game and a half due to injury. Personally, I feel like the Warriors would’ve at least forced a game seven had Thompson been able to go in the final quarter tonight the way he was shooting. That’s got to be hard on everybody involved in this series. Warriors fans will forever say, “what if?” and Raptors fans and players will always have to deal with people saying they had a series handed to them. The franchise and fans of it shouldn’t worry about any of that. What ifs suck, but you can’t do anything about them. Enjoy your first every championship. You know after more than two decades of being a franchise that they don’t come easy and you never know when the next one will come, especially with Leonard as a highly coveted free agent who could be one-and-done with the Raptors. The Raptors did two things incredibly well in this series against Golden State – their defense was tenacious, and they got major play, scoring and minutes from the eight key members in their rotation. Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol, Danny Green, Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka all had games where they had at least 17 points and major moments that helped turn this series in Toronto’s favor. In game six alone four different players had 20-plus points with Lowry and Siakam leading the way with 26 apiece and Leonard and VanVleet dropping in 22 points. Ibaka scored 15 off the bench, as well.  by Julian Spivey
The Golden State Warriors barely escaped game five of the NBA Finals in Toronto by the skin of their teeth winning 106-105 in a gritty, tough fought fourth quarter that saw the lead change back and forth for the first final quarter lead changes of the entire series thus far. The game five win for the Warriors forces a game six on Thursday at their home court Oracle Arena in Oakland, which win or lose will be the team’s final game in the arena before moving across the bay next season to their new San Francisco home. The biggest story going into the game for the Warriors was the return of superstar Kevin Durant, who hadn’t played a game in over a month since his injury against the Houston Rockets in the second round of the playoffs. Durant looked good from the start hitting a couple of threes in the first quarter and quickly tallying 11 points for the Warriors. However, the excitement of Durant’s return would be short lived. Early in the second quarter while planting his leg against Raptors defender Serge Ibaka something immediately went wrong for Durant and he left the game for good with some sort of an Achilles injury. He will undergo an MRI on Tuesday. He’s almost certainly done for the remainder of the series. In one of the most disturbing moments I’ve ever seen from NBA fans some in attendance in Toronto were cheering Durant’s injury and even mockingly waiving him goodbye from the expensive seats on the baseline. This kind of behavior is absolutely despicable and pretty much shuts down all of the good things the media has said about the Toronto fans this series. Despite Durant’s injury the Warriors seemed unbothered in the second quarter taking a double digit lead that at one point in the third quarter would be as much as 14 points. Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry and perennial All Star Klay Thompson played huge minutes for Golden State throughout the game with Curry leading the way with 31 points going 10-for-23 from the field with five three-pointers. Thompson would be close behind in the scoring column with 26 points with seven of his nine makes coming from behind the arc. It was the three-ball that truly kept the Warriors in the game for the entirety of game five going 20-for-42 from three point land. Durant was 3-for-3 from behind the arc before his injury. Draymond Green who’s struggled with threes all series long went 2-for-4. DeMarcus Cousins, who came off the bench for the Warriors in game five, played 20 big minutes in really only his second good game of the series after game two with 14 points to be the team’s third leading scorer. Green and Andre Iguodala were also in double figures scoring. The Raptors clawed their way back into the game in the fourth quarter with superstar and likely NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard taking control around the midway point of the quarter and giving the Raptors their first lead since very early on in the first quarter. It seemed Leonard and the Raptors were going to completely take control of the game from that point on and win the first championship in franchise history, but some big shots down the stretch by Thompson regained the lead for Golden State. On a moving screen foul with about 13 seconds remaining in the game by Cousins the ball would go back to the Raptors for a final possession and chance to seal the title. Point guard Kyle Lowry couldn’t end up getting the best look and missed what would’ve been a game-winner. Leonard led the Raptors in scoring once again with 26 points but did struggle shooting at times only going 9-for-24 from the field. Lowry was the second highest scorer for the Raptors with 18 points. Marc Gasol, Pascal Siakam, Ibaka and Fred VanVleet would all end up in double digits scoring for Toronto. One key stat for game five of the Finals is that the Warriors only won the game by one point and Durant was able to give them 11 points while only on the floor for 12 minutes. Without Durant on Monday night the Warriors would’ve lost the game by double digits and given the Raptors the championship. It’s great that the Warriors aren’t giving in and nobody expects this dynasty team to do that, and I’m sure NBA fans everywhere want this series to go as long as possible, but at the end of the day it seems like the inevitable of the Raptors winning their first championship is merely being put off for another day.  by Julian Spivey
The Toronto Raptors have taken a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals over the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors with a strong 105-92 win in game four of the series. The win has the Raptors on the brink of winning their first championship in franchise history and the first major sports championship in any series since 1993 (before the Raptors even existed). I said after game three of the series on Wednesday that the Raptors were given a gift by the injury depleted Warriors, more so than winning the game on their own. That certainly wasn’t the case in game four on Friday night. The Raptors played their best overall half of the NBA Finals, in my opinion, to go from a two-point deficit at halftime to winning by 13 points. Kawhi Leonard has without a doubt been the best overall player on the court for either team in this series and showed it again on Friday night with a stat line of 36 points on 50 percent shooting with 12 rebounds and four steals to go along with it. Serge Ibaka, who showed up big defensively in game three with six blocks, was a beast offensively and defensively in game four with 20 points (second most on the team). Leonard and Ibaka combined for 24 points in the third quarter on Friday, which outscored the entire Warriors squad in the quarter by three points. The Warriors looked like they were in complete control of the game in the first half with Toronto unable to hit many shots, but turnover issues allowed the Raptors to remain close and only down by two points at the break when it felt like the Warriors could’ve easily had a double-digit lead at that point. Golden State’s inability to effectively put the Raptors away early really bit them in the backside in the second half. Klay Thompson, who missed game three of the series with a hamstring injury, was really the only shining player for the Warriors in game four. He scored a team-high 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting with six three-pointers. Warriors two-time MVP Stephen Curry pretty much laid an egg in game four after a career playoff high of 47 points in the third game of the series where he attempted to almost single-handedly beat the Raptors. Curry scored 27 points on Friday night, but only shot 9-for-22 from the field and 2-for-9 from behind the arc. Nobody else on the Warriors scored more than 10 points as the team had a playoff low 92 points overall. Not to keep beating a dead horse, but it’s unfortunate we didn’t get to see what this series would’ve been like with even a less than 100 percent Kevin Durant. It’s mighty hard to win a championship when your best player is on the sidelines, and yes Durant is the Warriors best player, even with the future no-brainer hall of famer that is Steph Curry. At least this puts to bed the unbelievable bullshit of people saying, “the Warriors are a better team without Kevin Durant,” which we heard a few times when the Warriors swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals without him. I’m ready to call this a series. There’s no way the Warriors are going to win three consecutive games to make their dynasty run a three-peat, even if Durant somehow finds his way to the court in game five in Toronto on Monday, June 10. In fact, I think the Raptors will close this thing out in five games that night.  by Julian Spivey
You hate to see a championship series affected by injuries, but at the moments that’s what is happening in the NBA Finals as the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors look like the inside of a M*A*S*H unit. Missing Kevin Durant for the entirety of the Western Conference Finals and at least the first three games of the Finals was bad enough, but the Warriors were dealt more heavy blows in game two of the series on Sunday night when Klay Thompson strained a hamstring and Kevon Looney suffered a fracture of his collar bone. Thompson missed tonight’s game three and Looney is out for the remainder of the Finals. It also doesn’t help that DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Iguodala aren’t at 100 percent. Effectively five of the Warriors seven best players are out or playing hobbled right now in this series. Without Durant, Thompson and Looney this team shouldn’t have been expected to win game three. And, they didn’t. The Raptors won the game 123-109 to take a 2-1 series lead. Unfortunately for all involved, though I’m not sure the Raptors nor their fan base truly care a whole lot, it felt like a game that was predetermined for them to win due to injury. I truly hate typing that because I hate taking things away from the winning ball team, but there’s no doubt in my mind this game was settled by injuries more than it was on the court on Wednesday night. I think you have to look no further than the play of multiple-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry. Curry had a playoff career high with 47 points and the Warriors still lost the game by double digits. I told my wife before the game began that I believed Curry could score 50 tonight and Golden State still lose the game and it just about happened. The Raptors had a complete game from their team and still struggled to put the Warriors away until late in the fourth quarter. If Curry had his usual help – whether in the form of Thompson or especially Thompson and Durant I don’t believe the Warriors lose this game. ABC/ESPN announcer Jeff Van Gundy, is one of the worst announcers currently in any pro sport but did say something smart late in game three: “This Warriors starting five wouldn’t even have made the Western Conference playoffs.” The Raptors had double-digit scoring nights from six different players, including all of the starters, with Kawhi Leonard leading the way with 30 points. Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol, who played well in game one but kind of disappeared in the Raptors game two loss, stepped up big again scoring 18 and 17 points respectively. Point guard Kyle Lowry had his best game of the Finals with 23 points. Danny Green shot 60 percent (6-for-10) from behind the arc and hit some big shots in the third quarter winding up with 18 points. Fred VanVleet added 11 points off the bench. Curry got very little help offensively from his teammates on Wednesday night as he scored 43 percent of their total points on his own. The only other Warriors in double-digits scoring wise were Draymond Green, who had 17, and Andre Iguodala with 11. The Warriors are going to need to see at least Thompson, and likely Durant, to walk through those locker room doors on Friday for game four of the series or else they could be staring down a relatively early loss in the Finals. Gritty Performance Sees Warriors Tie Up Finals, Attrition Could Hurt Them in Remainder of Series6/3/2019  by Julian Spivey
Grit. That’s the word that best sums up the performance of the Golden State Warriors in game two of the NBA Finals on Sunday night (June 2) in a 109-104 win against the Toronto Raptors to even up the series at 1-1. The Warriors win in game two effectively steals home-court advantage for the Warriors who now head to Oakland, Calif. looking to take control of the series at home. It won’t be easy, though, as attrition is building up for Golden State and it appears the biggest factor in the NBA Finals could be health and that’s currently on Toronto’s side, without a doubt. We knew coming into the Finals that Kevin Durant might not play at all or could possibly be ready to suit up by games three or four – which is starting to seem unlikely, unless the Warriors are just playing their cards close to their chest. In game one Durant’s inability to play hurt the Warriors more than at any point in the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers and the end of the series before that against the Houston Rockets – that is to say it actually hurt them. The Raptors dominated game one from start-to-finish. In game two that same Raptors dominance was in effect. It didn’t help that essentially nobody on the Warriors looked right, except for Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. It took Stephen Curry until deep in the first half to score a bucket, and you could tell he just didn’t seem to feel right. ABC/ESPN sideline reporter Doris Burke said he was suffering from some type of illness. Forward and defensive ace Andre Iguodala was still not completely right from an injury suffered late in the WCF. Then late in the first half Warriors center Kevon Looney, who’s played big minutes as their main center throughout the playoffs (due to DeMarcus Cousins’ injury) hit the deck hard and suffered a chest contusion. He wouldn’t return for the remainder of the game. The only thing that kept the Warriors within striking distance was the play of Thompson and their ability to get to the free throw line. The Raptors took a five-point lead into halftime but were more dominant that the scoreboard told. Coach Steve Kerr must’ve given the Warriors one helluva pep talk during halftime because they came out looking like a completely different team – or more aptly their usual selves – in the third quarter. This is when the tide of the game truly turned in their favor. The Warriors went on an unprecedented 18-0 run to start the third quarter (a new NBA Finals record to begin a half) before the Raptors finally got on the board just before the halfway mark of the third. The Warriors would outscore the Raptors by 13 points in the quarter. Things were looking good for Golden State until Klay Thompson landed awkwardly on a three-point attempt early in the fourth and left the game with a hamstring injury. Despite playing almost none of the final quarter of the game he would lead the Warriors with 25 points in the game. Curry got going in the second half and would finish with 23 points. The Raptors would claw their way back into the game in the fourth quarter and the Warriors looked to be in trouble without their leading scorer Thompson and one of their best bigs and defenders in Looney. With under 30 seconds remaining in the game the Raptors got the Warriors lead down to just two points and played terrific defense against Curry, which almost resulted in him throwing the ball away, but instead the ball landed in the hands of Shaun Livingstone who found a wide open Iguodala behind the arc for the game-clinching three-pointer. The Warriors had another huge game out of forward and truly their lightning spark Draymond Green who was just one assist away from another triple-double in these playoffs. Cousins who was only able to play a handful of minutes in game one coming off a month-and-a-half long absence due to injury got the start in game two and put up a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Golden State also got a huge effort off the bench by backup point guard Quinn Cook who hit three important three-pointers. Kawhi Leonard was the spark plug keeping the Raptors running in game two with a game-high 34 points in a losing effort. Fred VanFleet continued to hound Curry on defense and added 17 points off the bench, as well to be the Raptors second highest scorer. Forward Pascal Siakam, who was the star of game one for Toronto, didn’t have near the output in game two with 12 points on just 5-of-18 shooting. Center Marc Gasol also didn’t shine as bright with only six points in game two. The series switches to Golden State’s homecourt of Oracle Arena on Wednesday, June 5 for game three of the series. The piled up injuries the Warriors find themselves with could be the biggest factor in that important game. |