[goddagParticipant]

Toronto just proved you don’t need a big three to win a Championship. Yes I know GS was playing without two of their big guns but Toronto had what it takes in the end. 

They’re the only team in history to win all the games at the oppononts court. And they did it with a lineup that not even Vegas would have bet on to win it.

Would the outcome been different if GS had Durant available for all these games? Maybe. We’ll never know. It can be talked about all year long. But we don’t know. The games still have to be played on the court, at the dates set. They can’t delay it and wait till everyone is healthy.

Congratulations Toronto for winning the title. You did it with a bunch of players everyone wouldn’t have bet on. For sure no big 3.

[timinator1Participant]

but don’t even kid yourself that the series wouldn’t have been different if klay doesn’t miss game three, and the final quarters of Games 2 and 6. GSW were about to win game 6 last night before the injury.

Take your trophy. Enjoy your parade. Well played. But also, c’mon. 

[goddagParticipant]

You’re presumming I’m a Toronto fan. I’m not. Just stating a fact. 

[KIP BallerParticipant]

Someone sounds a little salty… You play the team in front of you and that is what the Raptors did. Dont forget, the Raptors won two of the games this series with a healthy Klay (1 & 4) and swept the season series with GS at full strength. It was also a close game when Durant was playing in game 5 that could have gone either way as well as game 6 before Klay went down. I am not convinced there would have been a different outcome if all the Warriors played. Remeber when Kawhi and the Spurs were killing the Warriors and couple years back until the dirty play that took him out? That series could have been a lot different but no one discredits the Warriors for that title.  

[timinator1Participant]

it’s great that they won, and those guys played great. Take nothing away from their effort or talent.

But to say that beating a team wracked by injuries is the same as beating a team not banged up is incorrect. 

[KIP BallerParticipant]

You are trying to put an asterisk on the win, which you cannot do. EVERY NBA team gets wracked with injuries and often times its the team with the best health luck that is in a position to win. That is just the nature of the Sport. No one puts an asterisk on last years Warriors series with Rockets with CP3 went down. They dont put an asterisk on Warriors first championship when Love and Irving dont play in finals. Portland doesnt make excuse when their starting center goes down this year. You play through it with the guys you have and dont make excuses. Beating a banged up team IS the same thing. Its called a Champion.

[timinator1Participant]

they won, they beat the guys in front of them. And if you think history is going to remember it that way, cool. 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Toronto came back from much bigger defecits than last nights. And they won in 6. GSW were only up by 5 points before Thompson got hurt and you could even argue that injecting Durant into the lineup and having him get injured created a spark that would not have been there had he just stayed in the game.

Also its not like these were just freak injuries from wear and tear. I hate to say anything that sounds like I am promoting injuries or injuring the opposing teams players but all the injuries that happened during the series were brought on due to either Toronto’s physical play or Toronto applying constant pressure throughout the series.

Kevon Looney got his cartilage fracture by banging into Kawhi Leonard and taking the worst of the collision.

Kevin Durant blew his achillies by rushing back into the lineup because the Warriors were down 3-1.

Klay Thompson tore his acl by taking the worst of a contested layup were Danny Green made a play on the ball and took away the easy 2.

These were non malicous physical plays. Golden State could not match the physicality and ended up on the worst side of them. So we could go back and forth about how Golden State would have beat the Raptors and I hate to sound insensetive about the situations but Warriors have worn down plenty of their opponents the same way for years and won in the same fashion. 

[GronounoursParticipant]

 They proved you can win without a big three against a depleted Warriors team. Good for them, they showed great heart, they bucked the odds, and personally I’m very happy they won the title, but let’s not pretend injuries didn’t give them a big, fat hand.

[goddagParticipant]

You must not be able to read. I brought that fact up in what I wrote. You need to read all of it. 

[juves4783Participant]

basically, you are saying that even if GSW won; it’s proof you don’t need a big 3…

 

[timinator1Participant]

1) Kawhi

2) KD injury

3) Klay injury 

[mowestenParticipant]

 It’s proof that there’s no such thing as a sure thing. 

It’s also proof that as great as Curry is, can’t carry a team by himself like several other stars can and have … he more than most, needs other great players around him, because if you focus on him too much, he wilts.

If Curry and Leonard switched teams in this series, Golden State sweeps, injuries and all. End of story.

 

[celtics1982Participant]

 Kinda hard to make that claim given just how banged up the Warriors were. Durant and Thompson, yet Cousins wasn’t close to 100%, Looney was even banged up bad and they just didn’t have the depth they had in prior years. 

Raptors were different, they had great depth. Allowing them to play different ways. Congrats great run for the Raptors, they earned it, but they got some much needed luck in a very banged up Warriors team.

[KIP BallerParticipant]

They definitely got their stroke of luck in the finals but what they had to get through in the East was pretty impressive with Philly’s big 4 and then the Bucks who were the best team all season and up 2-0 against the Raptors. I think Philly or Bucks would have beat everyone else in the West except maybe GS. 

[ChammesParticipant]

People are really underrating Pascal. He was easily the second best player on the Raptors and honestly was one of the better players in the playoffs. Not to mention they had a former defensive player of the year, an all star point guard, and a really deep bench. It wasn’t a Miami type of big three but it also wasn’t Dirk when he won’t the championship either. 

[doubledribblerParticipant]

Pascal was very good at times, but he was up and down quite a bit. Same could be said for Lowry, Gasol, and Ibaka. Raptors went 7 deep playing Norman when they had to. When it came down to it, a lot of guys for the Raptors had big moments and hit clutch shots. The one thing that was consistent with Toronto was their defense which was excellent. I believe if Toronto had a better coach they would have won in game 5. Raptors were a good team and played well under pressure. Warriors had some big injuries, but they still had a lot of talent and chemistry left.

Sidenote: I wish people would stop pretending like Dirk was by himself. There may have been a huge gap between him and the next players, but there was not a huge dropoff when they were rotating out guys. The majority of their lineup was skilled, versatile, and useful plus they had excellent coaching. Miami had a Lebron meltdown and was starting a washed up Mike Bibby and Joel Anthony and still made it to 6 games. Dirk was clutch and unstoppable throughout, but outside of the top 3 for Miami that roster was garbage until the next year.

[cohenbc1Participant]

 Pascal was one of the top 25 players in the NBA this season. Kyle Lowry missed a bunch of games and had a down year statistically, but over the last five years he’s probably one of the top five point guards, and he was spectacular in the finals.

That’s a Big Three.

[Author]

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