You can relive Game 2 of the Raptors’ Finals series against the Warriors Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on TSN, with Game 3 coming to you Thursday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet ONE. The full broadcast schedule for the re-airing of Toronto’s historic 2019 championship playoff run can be found here.
Following their first-ever Finals victory in Game 1, the Toronto Raptors were looking to carry that momentum into Game 2, and for the most part they did.
However, the Golden State Warriors didn’t win three of the last four championships for nothing, and thanks to the heroics of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the first half and a strong second half from the team as a whole, the Dubs were able to steal home-court advantage from the Raptors by holding onto a 109-104 victory.
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Splash Bros. keep Dubs in it
The Raptors actually looked to be in pretty good shape at halftime of Game 2, leading 59-54 at the break. This lead could’ve been much greater had it not been for the play of Warriors stars Curry and Thompson getting hot in that first half, however.
The Splash Bros. combined for 34 points on 11-for-20 shooting in the first half while the rest of the Warriors only had 20 on 5-for-18 shooting.
Thompson had 18 points during this span, doing the brunt of his damage in the first quarter, scoring 11 points and making two triples in the frame. Curry, on the other hand, scored 12 in the second quarter, heating up after a slow start in the first period.
Had it not been for this burst from Curry and Thompson in the first half, the Raptors would’ve likely had a much bigger cushion entering the second half and more leeway to come back from what was a Warriors flurry to come.
Warriors come out to play after halftime
Coming out of halftime, the Warriors showed why they’re one of modern-day sports’ most dominant dynasties, kicking off the third quarter with an 18-0 run, the most unanswered points by a team to start a half in the NBA Finals ever.
Needless to say, this deflated the Scotiabank Arena crowd, especially as it looked like all of the Warriors stars who were available that night were getting in on the act and were looking primed for a big second half.
During this big Warriors run, only Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala scored, with Thompson doing the brunt of the damage with seven points.
This run turned a five-point Raptors halftime lead into a 13-point Warriors advantage before Fred VanVleet finally stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer with 6:20 to play in the third quarter.
From that point onward, the Raptors did scratch and claw back thanks to the play of Kawhi Leonard, and an unfortunate hamstring injury that forced Thompson to exit the game early in the fourth quarter that saw Toronto come within two points with 26 seconds left to play. The comeback attempt would ultimately fall just short.
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The game in a GIF
If there’s anything Game 2 of the 2019 Finals will be remembered by it will be by this clutch three-pointer you see above by Andre Iguodala.
On the previous possession the Raptors had pulled within two with 26 seconds to play thanks to a big Danny Green three, sending the arena into a frenzy as folks were convinced that Toronto was going to complete the comeback.
The crescendo of the crowd turned into deafening warcries of “De-fence” after the Warriors inbounded the ball and Pascal Siakam and VanVleet appeared to have Curry strung out and trapped near the time line, but the two-time MVP managed to escape and find Shaun Livingston, who barely managed to catch the wild pass sent his way after Leonard nearly managed to poke it loose.
Than, in the confusion of everything with the entire Raptors team scrambling to get back to their defensive assignments, Livingston found a wide-open Iguodala at the left wing, who had enough time to get his feet set, appear to take a small breath, rise up and deliver the dagger.
The collective “ahhh” from the Raptors crowd must’ve sounded like sweet music to the Warriors’ ears in that moment.
Game 2 Boxscore (via NBA.com)
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