By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors, 118-109, on Thursday at the Scotiabank Arena for a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals best-of-seven series. Spaniard Marc Gasol put up 20 points in Game 1.
The first NBA Finals game played outside the USA was a treat for the home crowd. The Raptors, widely considered the underdogs despite their home-court advantage, marched to the “W” carrying in double-digit lead for large chunks of crunch time.
Pascal Siakam scored a team-high and postseason-high 32 points and Kawhi Leonard followed with 23 points to his name. Gasol, 34, made his NBA Finals debut with 20 points behind 6/10 inside the rainbow and 2/4 from three-point range, tallied seven boards, two steals, one dime and one block as well before fouling out.
Serge Ibaka had five points, three rebounds, one rejection and one assist in 17 minutes from the bench. Fellow European OG Anunoby remained out, but Nick Nurse’s reserves ended up making a 25-point contribution.
The visitors fell in a double-digit hole at halftime, got back in it, but failed to follow through on their comeback attempt in the final minutes. Kevin Durant remained sidelined and Stephen Curry’s game-high 34 points weren’t enough. Swede Jonas Jerebko finished with six points and one board in eight minutes.
Game 2 will be played on Sunday evening at Toronto. The series will later move to Oracle Arena for Game 3 and Game 4 set to be played on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
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