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A22 SPORTS
Tuesday 4 June 2019
Warriors beat Raptors 109-104 to even NBA Finals

TORONTO (AP) — The Gold- hanging on seats around
en State Warriors relied on the arena.
a champion's heart to over- The Warriors sure were see-
come their weary bodies. ing red, especially Curry,
Klay Thompson scored 25 during a mostly miserable
points before leaving with first half when they missed
a hamstring injury, Stephen 20 of their first 28 shots.
Curry had 23 and the War- He hung his head and
riors ran off the first 18 points didn't even attempt to
of the second half on the run back when VanVleet
way to a 109-104 victory stole the ball from him and
over the Toronto Raptors made a layup to give To-
on Sunday night that tied ronto an 11-point lead with
the NBA Finals at one game a little more than 2 minutes
apiece. remaining in the half.
With Kevin Durant already But Curry made two free
out and Thompson even- throws for the final points
tually joining him in the of the half to cut it to 59-
fourth quarter, the Warriors 54, then the Warriors came
don't feel great — but they back and pitched a shut-
would've felt a whole lot out until nearly the midpoint
worse flying home in a 2-0 of the third quarter during a
hole. series-changing — perhaps
"I think that when you get to season-changing — swing.
this stage, our DNA shows Iguodala had five quick
up," Curry said. points including a 3-pointer
Andre Iguodala, himself that moved Golden State
slow to get up after a hard into the lead at 61-59.
fall in the first half, made The surge continued with
the clinching 3-pointer with three straight baskets from
5.9 seconds left after the Thompson and three more
Raptors scored 10 straight from Green, whose last one
points to cut it to 106-104. capped the 18-0 run that
Kawhi Leonard had 34 Elias said was the longest to
points and 14 rebounds for start a half in NBA Finals his-
the Raptors. They had won tory and made it 72-59 be-
five straight since falling be- fore Toronto finally got on
hind 2-0 in the Eastern Con- the board with a 3-pointer
ference finals. with VanVleet with 6:20 re-
Curry appeared to be la- maining in the period.
boring as well in the first "They moved the ball really
half, returning to the lock- well and were running free-
er room in the midst of six ly," Raptors center Marc
straight misses to start the Gasol said. "Once they run
game. freely, everything opens up
But the Warriors cobbled to- for them."
gether a good enough fin- The Warriors had won 12
ish to the second quarter to straight Game 1s and this
keep it close, then stormed was their first time playing
out of the locker room with from behind in the finals
one of their vintage third- since they were down 2-1
quarter charges that have Golden State Warriors' Andre Iguodala (9) shoots over Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry as Pascal to Cleveland in 2015. They
been so frequent during Siakam (43) looks on during Game 2 of basketball s NBA Finals, Sunday, June 2, 2019, in Toronto. showed no signs of con-
their run to five straight NBA Associated Press cern during the off days,
Finals. and Thompson suggested
"Third quarter we didn't play Oracle Arena for Games 3 without Durant, who missed see about all the injuries," part of the problem during
well enough. We missed too and 4, with the first NBA Fi- his seventh straight game coach Steve Kerr said. "But their 118-109 loss Thursday
many shots," Raptors guard nals to be played outside with a strained right calf I'm very proud of our team was rust after they had nine
Kyle Lowry said. "They got the U.S. assured of returning but hopes to return during and in particular all the days off in between series.
out in transition and got a to Canada for Game 5. the series. guys off the bench." Their bigger problem early
little confidence going. We The Warriors will hope to For now, they got key con- Kerr said Thompson told in Game 2 was the de-
lost the game there." have enough healthy bod- tributions from Quinn Cook, him that he thought his in- fense of the Raptors. But
DeMarcus Cousins was in- ies to get through it. Thomp- who hit three 3-pointers, jury was minor and he'd be Toronto — which had a
serted into the starting line- son landed awkwardly af- and veteran center An- fine, but added that "Klay 23-0 advantage in second-
up and delivered 11 points, ter a 3-point attempt early drew Bogut, who wasn't could be half dead and chance points — missed a
10 rebounds and six assists, in the fourth quarter and even part of the roster most he would say he would be chance to take a comfort-
and Draymond Green had limped off soon after, with of the season but came off fine." Kerr was unsure the able lead into the half and
17 points, 10 rebounds and backup center Kevon Loo- the bench for three bas- nature of Looney's injury. couldn't overcome its 37
nine assists — missing by ney already missing the kets. Fred VanVleet scored 17 percent shooting, with Pas-
one assist a fourth straight second half with a chest or "It was a great win. We got points for the Raptors, who cal Siakam going 5 for 18
triple-double. shoulder injury. to go home and protect had red T-shirts with their for 12 points after scoring
The series moves to their And Golden State is still our home floor and we'll slogan "We The North" 32 in the opener.q