Congratulations to the TORONTO RAPTORS, 1st time NBA CHAMPIONS!
No Game 7 on Sunday! Klay Thompson ran up and jumped to the hoop full speed on a play defended by Danny Green, landed badly and instantly grabbed his left knee. Curry received and threw down the ball and sat on the court, knowing that with just about 2 minutes left in the 3rd Quarter, in a game the Raptors were trying to close out and win, that was it for the Warriors. In addition to that, a clutch 3 from Raptors’ VanVleet and Curry missing the 3-pt game winner with a good look when the Warriors had possession, down by 1 with 18s left in the game sealed the win for The North. It was asnif.it was God’s plan.
Kudos to the Warriors for indeed playing like Warriors and fighting like the Champions they are without KD and despite other injuries. But, it was inevitable. A consistent Kawhi Leonard, a thirsty Kyle Lowry who came out blazing in the 1st Quarter, Gasol who was not effective in scoring but obtained crucial offensive rebounds, the great defending by Danny Green, Siakam and Ibaka who scored when it counted in the 3rd and 4th and VanVleet who was on fire and scored the huge clutch 3 in the 4th along with the rest of a hard-working Raptors team, all deserved their 1st title win. That includes Jeremy Lin!
FINALS MVP went to KAWHI LEONARD! No surprise there! ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘
Photo: ESPN
Raptors Road to their 1st NBA Title
Nobody thought at the beginning of the NBA Finals that the Raptors would take it, but as they upset the Celtics, took care of the 76ers and demolished the favourites in the East, the Bucks, their chances and desire to win became more and more evident. Their loyal fans knew it too. Well done and Congrats to THE NORTH! It’s an all weekend party in Jurassic Park and well, Canada! Oh Canada.
Photo: ESPN
See you next year! I love this game.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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CONGRATULATIONS to the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS for winning the 2017 NBA Finals. They beat the Cavaliers 129-120 to seal the NBA Finals series 4-1, which was Suga’s original prediction before a sweep looked possible and the Refs intervened Game 4.
It is the first NBA Finals where 4 players averaged 25+ points, which was achieved by Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
LeBron James was sensational, putting up 41 points and JR Smith was spectacular with 25 points including 7-8 from the 3-point line. His only miss from the 3-point line was late in the 4th when the Cavs started to crumble seeing the Championship slip away from them. He regrouped and put in another 3-point sinker that was just too late.
Kyrie Irving played well, scoring 26 points. But he was benched on and off as he suffered aches and pains that naturally come at this time of the post-season. He will have the entire summer to rest now.
Tristan Thompson finally stepped up and scored 15 points. He seemed to have switched places with Kevin Love. Love was scoreless for most of the game because he was benched after the first few minutes of the game when he committed 2 early fouls. He eventually ended up with just 6 points.
The Cavs just weren’t good enough.
Apart from an 18-point lead by the Warriors at one point, the game was quite close for the most part and extremely physical to say the least.
The turning point was Andre Iguodala’s (Iggy’s) dunk to change the momentum of the game and to wake up the Warriors who were playing well but not looking like they wanted to seize Game 5 and the Championship.
At that point, Davis West shook things up further after he went for a rebound and Kyrie Irving tried to wrestle the ball away from him. West got fired up and so did Tristan Thompson who also went for the rebound but lost out on it. He came and pushed West and so did JR Smith who ran in on the action from a mile away. West, Tristan Thompson and JR Smith were all given technical fouls.
LeBron James then gave an earful to a laughing Kevin Durant (KD) and Draymond Green and backed up all his talking by sinking a 3. Coach Steve Kerr smartly and immediately called a time out. Then the Warriors prevented an angry comeback from LeBron James.
The Warriors fully amped and on their way to victory after Curry scores a 2-point shot and gets fouled
Stephen Curry was explosive in the first half, but not so much in the second half. His 3-point mojo was missing. He assisted some crucial plays to the basket in the 2nd half though. He scored a total of 34 points.
Klay Thompson scored 11 points. It seems like a small amount, but he contributed throughout the game offensively and defensively and hit those 3s when they were needed or mattered the most.
It was KD and Iggy that really carried the team down the stretch. KD scored 39 points, the most he scored in the Finals, scoring over 30 each game. Iggy came up big from the bench with 20 points, highlighted by dunks and a few 3s.
KD did everything you can think of to secure his 1st NBA Championship ring, from assists to rebounds, dunks, layups, drives through the lane, jumpers and those 3s that broke the Cavs’ heart. K-Dagger.
Last night he was the real MVP.
Wanda, kudos to you too.
Kevin Durant and his mother, Wanda celebrate the Championship win
Congrats to KD for winning Finals MVP.
KD accepts Finals MVP Trophy from Bill Russell
LeBron’s fans will ask, ‘What more could he have done?’ LeBron stated, I left everything on the floor for all 5 games.’ I could almost agree. He played great baskbetball, but not when it counted. Game 4 to save face from a potential sweep and Game 5 at the Warrior’s homecourt is just too late to show up when necessary. Let’s not even talk about the Game 1 and 2 blowouts. But Game 3?! The game back on Cleveland’s homecourt? LeBron just wasn’t clutch. Here is a reminder of how LeBron could have been better and turned this Final around – LeBron missed a driving lay-up in the late 4th and had his 3-point shot attempt blocked by Andre Iguodala with 12s left. He made the offensive rebound then stepped out of bounds resulting in a turnover with 10s left. That’s just an example of a potential 5 points gone out the window. The end result of Game 3 was Warriors 118 – Cavs 113. To be the GOAT, you have to be clutch and that title still belongs to Michael Jordan with 6 rings.
“The premise that the Warriors’ victory was inevitable due to their stacking the deck ignores an indisputable fact: Only one of these teams features four top-five picks in the starting lineup — including a pair of No. 1 overall selections — and it isn’t the Warriors”. – Kevin Arnovitz (ESPN Staff Writer)
At the end of the day, the Warriors were hungrier and played much closer to their full potential compared to the Cavaliers.
Well done and well deserved Championship win for Coaches Steve Kerr, Mike Brown and the Warriors team.
Congrats to the internet too, that keeps winning.
Until next year!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Congratulations to the San Antonio SPURS for their 5th NBA Championship title in franchise history, joining the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls as the only team to accomplish that feat. The Spurs won the series 4-1 last Sunday night in blowout fashion with a final score of 104 to the Miami Heat’s, 87.
LeBron James had a blazing start in the first quarter and ended with a commendable 31 points, but nothing could stop or stand in the way of the Spurs achieving their redemption title as it slipped through their fingers last year. This rematch was also a big hit with television viewers compared to last year. The unselfishness, teamwork and ball movement of the Spurs was phenomenal with superb execution. All players made a significant contribution to the title, however out of so much talent, an MVP had to be chosen, young Kawhi Leonard who scored 22 points in the final game. Imagine what he could have done if he wasn’t in foul trouble.
Special mention also has to be made to veterans Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Tim Duncan is now the all-time Double-Doubles leader in NBA Playoffs history passing Magic Johnson and also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabar to set the all-time record for most minutes played in play off history.
One word, GINOBILIIIIII! Manu redeemed himself majorly after 2 years of horrible inconsistency, but showed everyone how hard he is on himself and how much of a true competitor he is by both facilitating unforgettable plays and scoring huge necessary shots.
Tony Parker had his ups and downs this season and didn’t even score until the 4th quarter in Sunday’s game, but once he started scoring he was on fire. His style of play and speed is always a beauty to watch and he said this was the sweetest victory for him yet.
So what’s next?! According to Tony Parker and Owner, Peter Holt, the Spurs should be back to try to defend their title next year. Tim and Manu may play until they die. Gregg Popovich would also like to coach beyond this year. Congrats to him as well for an excellent season, many years of great coaching and the ability to bond with all players. The relationship Pop has with the Spurs is on a different level compared to other teams.
So until next year, Go Spurs Go!
Watch “San Antonio Spurs Tribute to The Beautiful Game” on You Tube by clicking on the link below:
