The Golden State Warriors showcase their skills and win a crucial game five to make the series 3 to 2.
A troubling series
At the beginning of the series, the entire world was concerned about the Warriors’ three peat. “The dynasty is over,” some said. “This is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one,” others said. But, one day before the game, the greatest player in the world, Kevin Durant was questionable for game five. At this point, Raptors fans, their coaches, and the players were a bit worried it would be hard for them to adjust to Kevin Durant this late in the series. The next morning, the media was buzzing again, hopeful for a potential return of the easy money sniper. As the day went on, people from all over the world continued to place their bets on both teams.
From underdogs to favorites
Late in the afternoon, Kevin Durant was cleared to play. In a matter of moments, the Warriors went from being underdogs, to being favorites to win the whole series.
A great start
The game started out with the Warriors starting the Hamptons Five, a nickname given to their starting 5 all star players. At the beginning the first quarter, the Warriors were 5 for 5 from the three-point line, something rarely ever seen in the NBA. Three of the five three pointers were from Kevin Durant. As the Warriors dominated the Raptors in the first quarter, the Raptors fans started to quiet down. With Kevin Durant back into the equation, the Raptors knew that they were screwed. On the other hand, the Warriors were confident that they would three peat.
At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors were leading 34-28. They were beating the Raptors in all parts of the game. Defense, Offense, less turnovers, more rebounds, and more scoring are just to name a few of the things the Warriors were beating their counterparts in.
A devestating second quarter
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Warriors were devastated. Kevin Durant’s leg popped, and he turned over the ball. Slowly, he tumbled to the sidelines and fell to the floor as Ibaka was fouled on the other end. With a look of concern on his face, Steve Kerr called a timeout. At first, the Raptors fans started cheering for Kevin Durant’s injury, but then, Kyle Lowry and Danny Green signaled the crowd with their arms to settle down. They showed respect to an opponent by doing so, and sure enough, the cheers for Durant’s injury turned into applause to give him respect for putting his body on the line to help his team win another championship.
Kevin Durant limped to the locker room with Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry on his side. The team was informed that he would not return. He walked out on cruches.
After seeing their teammate, their best teammate, that is, getting injured, the Warriors were deeply saddened. But they vowed to win the game in honor of their friend Kevin Durant. They put on a fight in an emotional second quarter. Both teams put up 28 points. The score at halftime was 62-56, with the Warriors leading.
Second half
In the third quarter, the Warriors started to go on a run, like they always do in the third quarter. But this time around, the Raptors responded with bigger bombs of their own. A few bad turnovers, missed shots which led to defensive rebounds, and Curry and Klay taking rests helped the Raptors catch up. Both teams put up 22 in the third quarter, and the Warriors were still up by 6.
There was a lot of drama in the fourth quarter. In all previous games, whichever team led going into the fourth quarter was always the winner. The Warriors were leading, but the Raptors came back. They outscored the Warriors 27-22 in the last quarter. At the end, the Warriors got lucky 4 times.
In the last three minutes of the game, they were on the verge of losing due to these mistakes, but somehow managed to stay in the game. First, Damarcus had a goaltend. Then, Draymond Green had a back court violation. Lastly, Damarcus Cousins got an offensive foul when the Warriors had the ball. At this point, with less than 20 seconds on the clock, the Raptors were down by 1. Kawhi dribbled in and out; he was double teamed on defense. He passed the ball to Vanvleet, who made an extra pass to Lowry for a wide open three pointer. Kyle Lowry missed the buzzer beater shot, and the Warriors’ season had hope.
Warriors’ Three-Peat hope is alive
The final score was 106-105, and the Raptors now lead 3-2. Hopeful for a win in game 6, the Warriors look to tie the series 3-3 on Thursday night.
