Can Kawhi end another Dynasty?
Kawhi Leonard has ended more dynasties than you think, and he is on the brink of ending another. The Golden State Warriors may have played their final game at Oracle Arena.
You might remember Leonard effectively ending the LeBron James/Miami Heat dynasty in the 2014 NBA Finals, but he also somewhat ended the Spurs dynasty by getting himself traded away from the team. He’s poised to end this Warriors dynasty as well. Can you say Kawhynasty?
The Toronto Raptors took both games played at Oracle, where Golden State has rarely lost in the playoffs. The Raptors looked like they knew exactly what to do in games three and four against the Warriors, and have proved so far that they are the better team.
Leonard has clearly been the best player on both ends of the floor in this series. Apart from Stephen Curry’s 47 point game three performance, Leonard has outperformed every player in every game.
Leonard in the first game at Oracle had 30 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Then he came out in game four and put up 36 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and four steals. He torched the Warriors with five 3-pointers in game four, two of them coming back-to-back to start the third quarter.
Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, center, shoots against the Golden State Warriors during the first half of Game 3 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Ezra Shaw, Pool)
Game four also saw Serge Ibaka emerge from the depths of the bench and drop 20 points while in game three, Ibaka didn’t score as much but had a major impact with six blocks.
In what could have been the final game at Oracle, Toronto pushed the hell out of the ball in the first half. It worked wonders with how banged up and tired the Warriors players all are. DeMarcus Cousins and Klay Thompson both returned from injuries in this series, with Thompson missing game three, which was his first ever missed playoff game. Cousins missed all but the first two games of these playoffs.
Golden State is getting little sympathy from fans as they have been the fortunate team in years past with injuries. In the playoffs, the Warriors have had Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Chris Paul all go down with injuries and not play against them in previous years.
Golden State may just get lucky and have Kevin Durant return for game five of the series, as he practiced Sunday and is now listed as questionable. Durant has been the team’s cheat code for the past three seasons, and not having him has made it very difficult to beat the Raptors.
Golden State is the only team in NBA Finals history to lose a finals after being up 3-1 in the series, so we’ll see if they can become the second team to come back from that deficit.
Twitter: @ajlars13