Toronto Raptors: 2018-19 NBA Champions

Raptors capture first NBA title, beat Warriors in Game 6
By JANIE McCAULEY | AP Sports Writer

Jun. 14, 2019 1:11 AM ET

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Kawhi Leonard raised his arms high in triumph and celebrated Canada's first NBA championship.

''We the North!'' is now ''We the Champs!''

Leonard and the Toronto Raptors captured the country's first major title in 26 years with their most remarkable road win yet in the franchise's NBA Finals debut, outlasting the battered and depleted two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors 114-110 on Thursday night in a Game 6 for the ages.

''I wanted to make history here. That's what I did,'' a soaking wet Leonard said, ski goggles perched on his forehead and sporting a fresh black champions hat.

Stephen Curry missed a contested 3-pointer in the waning moments before Golden State called a timeout it didn't have, giving Leonard a technical free throw with 0.9 seconds left to seal it. Leonard, the NBA Finals MVP for a second time, then got behind Andre Iguodala for a layup as the buzzer sounded, but it went to review and the basket was called off before Leonard's two free throws. That only delayed the celebration for a moment.

When it actually ended, the typically stoic Leonard could let it all out. A Canadian team - and we're not talking hockey here - stood on top of one of the traditional major sports leagues for the first time since the Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series.

Serge Ibaka pulled his head up through the hoop by the Golden State bench as the crowd chanted ''Warriors! Warriors!'' after a sensational send-off at Oracle Arena.

Curry walked away slowly, hands on his head on a night Splash Brother Klay Thompson suffered a left knee injury and departed with 30 points.

Fred VanVleet rescued the Raptors down the stretch with his dazzling shooting from deep to score 22 points with five 3s off the bench, while Leonard wound up with 22 points. Kyle Lowry scored the game's first eight points and finished with 26 in all to go with 10 assists and seven rebounds.

Fans poured into the streets in Toronto, screaming and honking horns after the Raptors pulled off a third straight win on Golden State's home floor that said goodbye to NBA basketball after 47 seasons. And the Raptors did it with the very kind of depth that helped define Golden State's transformation into a dynasty the past five seasons.

This time, the Warriors were wounded.

Golden State already was down two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who had surgery Wednesday for a ruptured right Achilles tendon. Then, the Warriors lost Thompson - and they couldn't overcome just one more heartbreaking injury.

''A lot of bad breaks in the finals, to be honest,'' Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. ''Like us, they kept on playing. We just had to keep on playing no matter who was out there. And I think they were super intense high-level games and both teams desperately trying to win.''

This thrilling back-and-forth game featured 18 lead changes, nine ties and neither team going ahead by more than nine points.

Curry scored 21 points but shot just 6 for 17 and went 3 of 11 on 3s. Iguodala added 22 for his biggest game this postseason as the Warriors did everything until the very last moment to leave a lasting legacy at Oracle.

Thompson provided his own dramatic memory. He injured his knee when fouled by Danny Green on a drive at the 2:22 mark of the third, was helped off the court and walked partially down a tunnel toward the locker room, then - shockingly - re-emerged to shoot his free throws before going out again at 2:19. He didn't return and left the arena on crutches.

''More than the what-ifs is just feeling bad for the players involved. Injuries are always part of the NBA season - any professional sport, injuries play a huge role,'' Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. ''It's just the nature of these injuries, the severity of these injuries. And we'll know more about Klay. But we can sit here and say, well, if this hadn't happened or that hadn't happened, that doesn't matter. What matters is Kevin Durant is going to miss next season with an Achilles tear and Klay suffered a knee injury.''

In their best Bay Area version of Jurassic Park - Toronto's jam-packed gathering spot to cheer the Raptors - hundreds of red-clad fans stayed long after the game ended to watch the Larry O'Brien trophy ceremony. They waved the Maple Leaf and sang ''O Canada'' just as they did here after winning previously this series.

Lowry's hot start was almost fitting. It was the Toronto guard who got shoved on the sideline in Game 3 by Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens, now banned by the league and team for a year.

The Raptors, in their 24th season of existence, rallied from two games down to beat the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals then took down the mighty Warriors on their home floor to deny Golden State a three-peat.

The Raptors went 8 for 32 on 3s in a 106-105 Game 5 defeat as the Warriors staved off elimination Monday in Toronto. They started 5 of 6 from long range in this one and finished 13 of 33 and converted 23 of 29 free throws.

Curry and these Warriors never, ever count themselves out. Yet down 3-1 in their fifth straight NBA Finals, they didn't have the health it took to win the past two titles and three of the past four against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

''This five-year run's been awesome but I definitely don't think it's over,'' Curry said.

TIP-INS

Raptors: Leonard scored 732 points this postseason and on Thursday passed Allen Iverson (723) for fourth place and Hakeem Olajuwon (725) for third on the NBA's single-postseason scoring list. James is second with 748 accomplished last year behind Michael Jordan's 759 points in 1992. ... Toronto 9-16 all-time at Oracle Arena but 4-0 overall this season.

Warriors: Thompson's 374 career postseason 3s passed James (370) for third place on the career playoff list, trailing only Curry (470) and Ray Allen (385). ... Thompson notched his second 30-point performance this postseason, 13th of his career and fourth in a finals game despite not playing the entire fourth quarter.

FOR OAKLAND

A gold rally towel read FOR OAK on one line and LAND on the next with the K and D lined up in white - a clever way to also pay tribute to Durant with his initials ''KD.''

Kerr narrated a pregame tribute to Oracle's legacy on the big screen.

In the 2,070th game at Oracle, the Warriors sold out their 343rd consecutive game and said farewell at last to the place they called home nearly five decades. Now, Golden State will move its games, practices and day-to-day operations to new Chase Center in San Francisco beginning next season.

St. Louis Blues: 2018-19 Stanley Cup Champions

BOSTON -- The St. Louis Blues are Stanley Cup champions for the first time.

St. Louis defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on Wednesday.

"It doesn't feel real," Blues center Brayden Schenn said. "It's absolutely incredible. I can't even explain. It feels like a video game we're in. It's what you dream of as a kid, posing with the Stanley Cup, getting to lift it. It's a special group. We're going to party hard."

Jordan Binnington made 32 saves; Alex Pietrangelo and Ryan O'Reilly each had a goal and an assist; and Schenn and Zach Sanford scored for St. Louis, which entered the NHL in 1967-68 and had never won a Cup Final game in three prior appearances (1968-70).

O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy, voted the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"Most of these guys on [the trophy] I pretended I was as a kid, and now to be on here with them, it's an incredible feeling," O'Reilly said. "I can't believe that we hung on and got this done."

Tuukka Rask made 16 saves, and Matt Grzelcyk scored for Boston, which won Game 6 of the best-of-7 series 5-1 on Sunday.

"It's an empty feeling," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's a long year. Someone had to win and someone had to lose and we came out on the wrong side of it. It's not the way you picture it. It's as simple as that."

The Blues were last in the NHL on Jan. 3. They are the first team to win the Stanley Cup after being last in the standings at least 30 games into a season.

St. Louis defeated the Winnipeg Jets in six games in the Western Conference First Round, the Dallas Stars in seven games in the second round, and the San Jose Sharks in six games in the conference final.

"It had to be this way, man," Binnington said. "It was an incredible year and I can't believe where we're at. It's awesome."

Rask allowed more than three goals in a game for the first time since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 17, ending a streak of 19 games allowing three or fewer. He allowed two goals on four shots in the first period.

"It was a nightmare for me, obviously," Rask said. "Barely didn't make a save in the first. And you know we tried to create, we had good chances, and [Binnington] made the saves when they needed."

O'Reilly gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 16:47 of the first period, scoring from between the hash marks on a deflection of Jay Bouwmeester's shot from the point. He became the first player to score in four straight Cup Final games since Wayne Gretzky did so with the Edmonton Oilers in 1985.

O'Reilly was the leading scorer of the Cup Final with nine points (five goals, four assists) and finished tied for the most points in the playoffs with 23 (eight goals, 15 points) with Bruins forward Brad Marchand (nine goals, 14 assists).

"Put the team on his back," Schenn said of O'Reilly. "He obviously believed we could do it. We all believed we could do it. He led the way."

Pietrangelo made it 2-0 with eight seconds left in the first. He scored on a forehand-backhand deke with a shot over Rask's blocker from the slot.

The Bruins outshot the Blues 12-4 in the first period and 23-10 through two periods but did not score.

Binnington, who played one NHL game three seasons ago prior to Dec. 16, became the first rookie goalie to win 16 games in a single NHL postseason.

"He was outstanding tonight," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I thought it was his best game of the series."

Schenn made it 3-0 at 11:25 of the third period, scoring on a one-timer off a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko. Sanford extended the lead to 4-0 at 15:22.

Grzelcyk ended Binnington's shutout with 2:10 remaining to make it 4-1.

"We did it, we did it," Blues forward Pat Maroon said. "I mean, there's nothing else. We put everything on the line from Jan. 3 on and we deserve this. What a way to finish it."

They said it
"We knew it was there, we knew we had the pieces, but it was so educational for myself to see how tough it is and how hard you have to work and how even-keel you have to be to keep coming every day and just keep punching at it. It was always there that we can do it, but to actually do it, it's exhausting. I'm exhausted." -- Blues forward Ryan O'Reilly

"We thought we were going to do it. We had that belief we have all year. We've done it plenty of times. It takes one goal to get going and swing that momentum, and we just didn't get that one early enough. We thought that we'd be able to come back, but obviously we didn't." -- Bruins forward Brad Marchand


Need to know
The road team won five games in the Cup Final for the fourth time (1945, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings; 1966, Montreal Canadiens and Red Wings; 2000, New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars). ... The Blues finished 10-3 on the road in the playoffs, including 3-1 in the Cup Final. They are the seventh team in NHL history, first since 2000, to win three road games in the Cup Final (1921 Ottawa Senators, 1928 New York Rangers, 1945 Maple Leafs, 1966 Canadiens, 1990 Edmonton Oilers, 2000 Devils). All seven won the Stanley Cup. ... St. Louis tied the record for most road wins in a single postseason (1995 Devils, 2000 Devils, 2004 Calgary Flames, 2012 Los Angeles Kings, 2018 Washington Capitals). ... The Blues are the fourth team in the NHL modern era (since 1943-44), first in 30 years, to win the Cup without a previous Cup winner on the roster (1974 Philadelphia Flyers, 1980 New York Islanders, 1989 Flames). ... St. Louis was swept in the Cup Final by the Montreal Canadiens twice and the Bruins. ... Boston has lost the Cup Final 14 times, most of any team.


What's next
Season complete