TORONTO -- You know it’s coming, but that doesn’t mean you can stop it.
Before the Warriors held on for a 109-104 win that evened the NBA Finals at one game apiece, they found themselves down 10 points to the Toronto Raptors with one minute remaining in the first half.
The Warriors used a 6-1 run to close out the half, cutting the Raptors' lead to 59-54 and giving them a glimpse of what was to come.
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Golden State opened the second half on an 18-0 run to take control of the game. It was a jarring turn that silenced the Scotiabank Arena crowd and put Toronto on its heels.
“I feel like in that third quarter, we didn't score the ball in like the first five minutes, four and a half minutes, obviously led to them getting out in transition early and a lot of layups and open looks, and that was pretty much the game right there,” Raptors star Kawhi Leonard said after the loss. “Went on like a 15, 18-0 run, I believe, and you can't do that with a championship team on the other side.”
With the Warriors in attack mode, the Raptors learned a valuable lesson. The easiest way to compete with the back-to-back defending champs is to score so you can get back and set your defense. The shots stopped falling for the Raptors, and you could feel the panic start to set in then.
Golden State Warriors
“I've always said even this series and the last series that offense is really important, taking care of the ball and scoring it because if you don't, they're coming at you really fast the other way,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “And again, we have got to be able to get our defense set up, and it's a lot harder when you're not taking care of it or scoring.”
The Raptors were outscored 34-21 in the third quarter. They also were outshot 56 percent to 31.8 percent from the field as the game sped up and spun out of control.
“I think that when we have good offense and we're able to get our defense set, we can live with that,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said. “But when we're turning the ball over and not getting good shots and not making any shots and you got to guard those guys in transition every play, it gets tough, and that's what you saw.”
Everyone kicked in during the Warriors' run. Six players scored in the quarter, as they knocked down 14 of 25 shots from the field. Golden State put on a clinic, handing out assists on all 14 makes.
The Raptors looked a step slow, and with the ball swinging from one side to the next, they weren’t able to get physical with the Warriors like they had in their Game 1 win and the first half of Game 2.
“We missed some good shots, and defensively, they kind of got away from our body,” center Marc Gasol said. “We couldn’t use the physicality. They moved the ball really well and were running freely. Once they run freely, everything opens up for them.”
All five Warriors starters posted two assists or more in the quarter, with Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins and Draymond Green each handing out three dimes in the 12-minute session.
Golden State took an 88-80 lead into the fourth, and had the momentum. Toronto didn’t go quietly, but the damage done coming out of the intermission was too much to overcome.
“We didn’t play well enough,” veteran Kyle Lowry said. “We missed too many shots. They got out in transition and got a little bit of confidence going. Third quarter. We lost the game there. We fought back and did a great job, but we missed some looks in the third quarter that we usually make.”
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The Raptors kept it close, but the Warriors successfully defended down the stretch, and Andre Iguodala buried a huge 3-pointer to seal the win with less than 10 seconds remaining.
With the victory, the Warriors claimed home-court advantage as the series moves to Oracle Arena for Game 3 on Wednesday night. They're beat up and running on fumes, but they’ve been in this position plenty of times in the NBA Finals over the last five years.
The Raptors must find a way to bounce back and win one on the Warriors' home turf, or this series quickly could be over.