Dynasty Over

Golden State had been to five straight NBA Finals. They had won three of the last four titles including the last two in a row. They had a chance to become a three peat team and cement themselves as a true dynasty team. Then they ran into the Toronto Raptors, a team that came in on a hot streak and had a world of confidence. As well as health. By the time the dust had settled, the Raptors walked away with a six game series win, claiming their first ever NBA championship, as well as Canada's first major championship since the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays. A lot of good went into the Raptors win.

Siz xplayers on the Rapotrs finished this six game series averaging double digits in points: Serge Ibaka (11.3), Marc Gasol (12.0), Fred VanVleet (14.0 all coming off the bench more on that later), Kyle Lowry (16.2), Pascal Siakam (19.8), and series MVP Kawhi Leonard (28.5). For Kawhi, this series was a sign of almost redeption. He's one of six players to ever score more than 700 points in an NBA playoff year, he finished with 732. Only two players have scored more than him in a playoff year and they were Michale Jordan in 1992 with 759 and Lebron James last year with 749. Kawhi is the 12th player in history to win multiple finals MVP, but he's the only one to win it in each conference. he won it with the Spurs in 2014 and this year with the Raptors.

Lets put it like this, Kawhi was playing at an almost superhuman level during the finals, maybe even all playoffs long. The old saying goes that the creme of the crop will rise to the top, and Kawhi did that as the playoffs went along. The reason this was a redemption for Kawhi was because of the way he left San Antonio. He had played a grand total of nine games in Texas all of last year, as he was dealing with injuries and wasn't happy with the situation he was in. So when last season ended, he was shipped out to Toronto in a deal that Raptors fans and Kawhi weren't too happy about. As the season went on, Kawhi kept playing, got more comfortable and became happy in Toronto. He became fond of the city from what I've heard and the city fell in love with him. With the way he'd played all year for the Raptors, it looked like Kawhi had found his game again, now leaving one to wonder what his decision is going to be this summer, stay or head elsewhere?

It wasn't just the Kawhi show in the finals, oh no. Pascal Siakam had a big series, falling just short of 20 points a game. Fred VanVleet was a huge factor in this series, averaging double digits in points every game in this series coming off the bench. That's where the Raptors had the edge.

Sure Stephen Curry was great for Golden State, averaging 30.5 a game for the Warriors. Even Klay Thompson was playing great in the finals, averaging 26.5 in the finals until he blew out his ACL in the 3rd quarter in game six. Not having Kevin Durant most of the series really hurt the Warriors. He played a little in game five before tearing his achillies tendon in his right leg, taking him out all of next season. With the limited options that the Warriors had, it made it easier for Toronto to play lock down defense. With a full roster, there's no doubt in anybody's mind, that has good as the Raptors defense is, they wouldn't have been able to cover everybody and been badly out numbered. This isn't to say that it's all the injuries fault that Golden State lost this series, it's also Toronto was just that good overall.

This series win had to come as one of vindication for the franchise. After 24 years, they finally played the first game ever in the finals up in Canada. It was also the first championship in any of the four major sports since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup and Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series, both coming in 1993.

Congratulations to the Raptors on winning their first ever NBA Championship!