The King is Warriors’ inspiration

Ironically, the man who battled Golden State in the last four NBA Finals is the inspiration for the Warriors not to lose hope in this year’s title series against Toronto. LeBron James put Cleveland on his back and led the Cavaliers’ comeback from a 1-3 series deficit to beat Golden State in the 2016 Finals.

No other team has won the Finals coming from a 1-3 hole. The Warriors are hoping to do to the Raptors what Cleveland did to them. Toronto surged to a 3-1 advantage with back-to-back road wins over Golden State and held three “match points” when the Warriors defeated the Raptors, 106-105, in Game 5 at the Scotiabank Arena last Monday. Now, the Raps are down to two “match points” and Golden State has to survive Game 6 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland this morning (Manila time) to force a deciding Game 7 in Toronto on Monday morning (Manila time).

It’s not as if Golden State isn’t used to this situation. In the 2016 Western Conference Finals, the Warriors rose from the grave to shock Oklahoma City in seven games. The Thunder blew a 3-1 advantage as Golden State won three in a row, two at home, to clinch. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Igoudala and Andrew Bogut were on the Golden State team that year. Serge Ibaka, now with Toronto, and Kevin Durant, now with the Warriors, were in the OKC roster. There’s a major difference in that situation from what Golden State now faces. Against OKC, the Warriors took Game 7 at home. Against the Raps, they’ll play Game 7 on the road, assuming the Dubs win Game 6.

There’s more to surviving Game 6 than just to extend the Finals to a winner-take-all showdown. The Warriors are playing their last game ever at the Oracle. Next season, they’ll move to the Chase Center in the Mission Bay district of San Francisco. Curry and company surely don’t want to mark their farewell appearance in Oakland with a loss. And it won’t be an ordinary loss because if the Raps win, they’ll capture the NBA crown and end the Dubs’ hopes of a three-peat. A Toronto victory will go down in history as a painful stain in Golden State’s record.

No doubt, coach Steve Kerr will do everything in his power to steer the Warriors to a big win in Game 6. Nobody wants to disappoint the homecrowd. The trend, however, points to a Toronto win. In three meetings at the Oracle this season, Golden State hasn’t beaten Toronto, including twice in the Finals. With a full lineup, maybe the Warriors could reverse the trend and bank on the law of averages to turn the tide. But KD is indisposed, Kevon Looney is hurting and Boogie Cousins has been blowing hot or cold.

Curry and Thompson were on fire in Game 5, combining for 57 of the Warriors’ output. But it was Draymond Green’s defense that saved Golden State from what could’ve been a last-second disaster. With 15.7 seconds to go and the Warriors protecting a one-point lead, Thompson and Igoudala doubled on Kawhi Leonard to force a pass to Fred VanVleet who then sent it to Kyle Lowry in the deep corner. Marc Gasol was on the weak side low post, defended by Green. So when the ball went to Lowry, it was easy for Green to turn and contest. Green blocked Lowry’s shot at the buzzer. If Gasol posted up on the strong side, it would’ve been difficult for Green to cover the distance and challenge Lowry’s shot.

For Golden State to win Game 6, these are the imperatives – slow down the pace (the Raps are deadliest going up and down), Boogie must play like an All-Star, make Leonard bleed for his points, squeeze the ball-screen to prevent either a shot or a pass to the roller, cut down on silly turnovers (like illegal picks, backcourt violations, sloppy handling), turn it into a defensive, grind-it-out, low-scoring battle, work as a unit to locate the open man for the assist, knock down open threes and feed off the crowd’s energy.

For Toronto to clinch this morning, these are the imperatives – control the boards to fuel transition, keep from going under screens when Curry and Thompson are looking to shoot, take advantage of Gasol’s passing ability, Lowry to stay aggressive in attacking Curry’s defense, pressure on the ball in the halfcourt to prevent movement, Pascal Siakam to stick to coach Nick Nurse’s system and be patient, Ibaka to be more active on both ends because he’s a matchup nightmare and Leonard to lead the Raps’ charge either as a creator or a decoy facilitator.