2019 NBA Finals Thread #4: Golden State Warriors vs Toronto Raptors | TIED AT 1

[Winsome Gerbil]

Oh, and it should go without saying that this last loss may really have put the Raptors over a barrel precisely because of KD's looming return.

[dhsilv2]

I knew immediately that cousins was going to make an impact this series. Even in game 1, he was finding cutters and just drawing attention. The alternative is Looney, who wouldn’t even be in the rotation for a championship team. He was the difference today IMO. They needed another creator, and someone to draw some attention away from the perimeter guys.

I don’t think Toronto can win a game at GSW. I’d be shocked if they did. GSW might be up 3-1 with KD back heading into a close out game. Toronto needed this one badly.

Loony is the better defender...

Your Cousins takes are consistently loopy. Looney might do 1 thing better than Cousins defensively. And certainly on offense he's just the sort of basic game roleplayer that a top defensive team has no trouble neutralizing. You know exactly what he can and cannot do.

Your love of cousins biases you to insane levels. Cousins is a serious defensive liability all that said I'm loving how much effort the guy is playing with and I'm seriously crossing my fingers he doesn't hurt himself.

[NCHeels2008]

I knew immediately that cousins was going to make an impact this series. Even in game 1, he was finding cutters and just drawing attention. The alternative is Looney, who wouldn’t even be in the rotation for a championship team. He was the difference today IMO. They needed another creator, and someone to draw some attention away from the perimeter guys.

I don’t think Toronto can win a game at GSW. I’d be shocked if they did. GSW might be up 3-1 with KD back heading into a close out game. Toronto needed this one badly.

I agree that Boogie made more of a difference than I thought he could coming back from that torn quad but Looney literally was in the rotation for the dubs championship run last year and has contributed all playoffs so far this year.

I should rephrase - I meant any other team that is not absolutely madly stacked with talent. The Warriors can get away with it, but no other playoff contender is starting Kevon Looney. They honestly could roll out anyone there. They’ve made several guys look good, but Looney wouldn’t be getting meaningful minutes on another team - warriors are paper thin upfront and have the perimeter guys to negate the drop off upfront

Would you consider Curry surrounded by Draymond, a mostly healthy Iggy, a hobbled Cousins, Quinn Cook and Andrew Bogut to be "stacked"?

[Rednation91]

If someone played better than Leonard the raptors would be undefeated in the playoffs...

Kawhi 34 points 16-16 FT and Lowry was either playing like crap or in foul trouble. The same Lowry who was raptors 2nd best player in the ECF. Leonard had zero help from his second star, it was a carry job playing against 4 all stars.I don't think you can put any blame on Kawhi tonight. Lowry was fouled out both games, they are lucky to even come out with 1 win.

again, a very weak 34 points. looked better on the box score. almost half came at the FT line. almost had as many turnovers as shots made, also was a 2nd raptors worst -14 on the game.

defensively, he's not even defending Steph, so he's not even taking the toughest assignment either.

some sensationalizing his performance.

Right. Kawhi really needs to step up. 13-34 fg for 38%, 28fta (45.6% of his points come from fts), 8 assists: 7 TO for the series

[Winsome Gerbil]

Loony is the better defender...

Your Cousins takes are consistently loopy. Looney might do 1 thing better than Cousins defensively. And certainly on offense he's just the sort of basic game roleplayer that a top defensive team has no trouble neutralizing. You know exactly what he can and cannot do.

Your love of cousins biases you to insane levels. Cousins is a serious defensive liability all that said I'm loving how much effort the guy is playing with and I'm seriously crossing my fingers he doesn't hurt himself.

Quite the opposite, I doubt you can point to a single number to back up your take. I can point to almost every defensive stat we have to back up mine. Not to mention the rather patently obvious eye test. Cousins is much bigger, stronger, has longer arms, better hands by a mile, he is disruptive, takes a huge number of charges, and cleans the defensive glass as well as any player in the league.

His DRPM, DRTG, DBPM, DWS/48, DefReb%, Stl%, Blk% all dwarf Looney's and the Warriors were markedly better on defense with Cousins at C this season. Tonight Gasol had no answer.

And then of course we get to the side where he takes the pressure off the Splash Bros.


On the other side Looney is more mobile and a better PnR defender. And good for him. It leaves him with a role depending on matchups.

[killacalijatt]

Hope yall enjoyed the only W yall getting in the finals lol. Gentleman's Sweep coming up.

I guess you don't know what a sweep is but anyways I have this series going to 6-7 games, we'll see whose right by next weekend

Lmao Guess you don't know what a gentleman's sweep is.

[dhsilv2]

Your Cousins takes are consistently loopy. Looney might do 1 thing better than Cousins defensively. And certainly on offense he's just the sort of basic game roleplayer that a top defensive team has no trouble neutralizing. You know exactly what he can and cannot do.

Your love of cousins biases you to insane levels. Cousins is a serious defensive liability all that said I'm loving how much effort the guy is playing with and I'm seriously crossing my fingers he doesn't hurt himself.

Quite the opposite, I doubt you can point to a single number to back up your take. I can point to almost every defensive stat we have to back up mine. Not to mention the rather patently obvious eye test. Cousins is much bigger, stronger, has longer arms, better hands by a mile, he is disruptive, takes a huge number of charges, and cleans the defensive glass as well as any player in the league.

His DRPM, DRTG, DBPM, DWS/48, DefReb%, Stl%, Blk% all dwarf Looney's and the Warriors were markedly better on defense with Cousins at C this season. Tonight Gasol had no answer.

And then of course we get to the side where he takes the pressure off the Splash Bros.


On the other side Looney is more mobile and a better PnR defender. And good for him. It leaves him with a role depending on matchups.

Honestly man, you're such a huge cousins fan, I just have no desire to argue with you on this.

[BayArea408415]

http://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/26882990

Klay didn’t look to be limping too bad. Hopefully, he returns for Game 4 if he has to miss the next one. Game 3 will be tough to win if Klay and Durant are both out.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/26882980

Klay said he feels okay. No pain but needs an MRI. Iguodala is the one limping but didn’t reinjure his calf. Likely just a result of his overall body being worn down so I don’t expect him to miss Game 3. These break between games are definitely beneficial though.

[HBK_Kliq_33]

Kawhi 34 points 16-16 FT and Lowry was either playing like crap or in foul trouble. The same Lowry who was raptors 2nd best player in the ECF. Leonard had zero help from his second star, it was a carry job playing against 4 all stars.I don't think you can put any blame on Kawhi tonight. Lowry was fouled out both games, they are lucky to even come out with 1 win.

again, a very weak 34 points. looked better on the box score. almost half came at the FT line. almost had as many turnovers as shots made, also was a 2nd raptors worst -14 on the game.

defensively, he's not even defending Steph, so he's not even taking the toughest assignment either.

some sensationalizing his performance.

Right. Kawhi really needs to step up. 13-34 fg for 38%, 28fta (45.6% of his points come from fts), 8 assists: 7 TO for the series

34 points on 20 FGA while getting double teamed half the game, 14 rebounds including offensive rebounds late in the 4th quarter that were keeping them in the game and he set the finals record for most freethrows without a miss. Siakam\Gasol just played terrible tonight and Lowry was in foul trouble all while playing against 4 allstars. I don't understand how that's a bad game from Leonard, if Siakam even has an average game or Lowry was out of foul trouble they probably win tonight's game.

[B-Ball Freak]

Hope yall enjoyed the only W yall getting in the finals lol. Gentleman's Sweep coming up.

I guess you don't know what a sweep is but anyways I have this series going to 6-7 games, we'll see whose right by next weekend

Lmao Guess you don't know what a gentleman's sweep is.

Is Iguodala still a "puss"?

[Rednation91]

again, a very weak 34 points. looked better on the box score. almost half came at the FT line. almost had as many turnovers as shots made, also was a 2nd raptors worst -14 on the game.

defensively, he's not even defending Steph, so he's not even taking the toughest assignment either.

some sensationalizing his performance.

Right. Kawhi really needs to step up. 13-34 fg for 38%, 28fta (45.6% of his points come from fts), 8 assists: 7 TO for the series

34 points on 20 FGA while getting double teamed half the game, 14 rebounds including offensive rebounds late in the 4th quarter that were keeping them in the game and he set the finals record for most freethrows without a miss. Siakam\Gasol just played terrible tonight and Lowry was in foul trouble all while playing against 4 allstars. I don't understand how that's a bad game from Leonard, if Siakam even has an average game or Lowry was out of foul trouble they probably win tonight's game.

5 pts in the 4th quarter is unacceptable from him. He choked. And 3 of those points were late fts

[HBK_Kliq_33]

Right. Kawhi really needs to step up. 13-34 fg for 38%, 28fta (45.6% of his points come from fts), 8 assists: 7 TO for the series

34 points on 20 FGA while getting double teamed half the game, 14 rebounds including offensive rebounds late in the 4th quarter that were keeping them in the game and he set the finals record for most freethrows without a miss. Siakam\Gasol just played terrible tonight and Lowry was in foul trouble all while playing against 4 allstars. I don't understand how that's a bad game from Leonard, if Siakam even has an average game or Lowry was out of foul trouble they probably win tonight's game.

5 pts in the 4th quarter is unacceptable from him. He choked. And 3 of those points were late fts

He was out in the beginning of the 4th quarter and checked back in when they were down about 10 points, how is that choking. He was all over the rebounds in the 4th quarter, his supporting cast was just choking.

[Kordic27]

Whatever happened to one team playing better than the other? One team winning and the other losing? Why does one team have to choke? Why does one team have to suck?

[whatisacenter]

Whatever happened to one team playing better than the other? One team winning and the other losing? Why does one team have to choke? Why does one team have to suck?

This so much!

And whenever I read those posts or if the poster calls an NBA player trash, I immediately assume that poster is 14 years old and has no perspective in life.

[SF_Warriors]

Crazy to think that even with KD out..gsw can still field a lineup of steph,klay,iguodala,green,boogie

I really like the fit of that unit as well.

[B-Ball Freak]

34 points on 20 FGA while getting double teamed half the game, 14 rebounds including offensive rebounds late in the 4th quarter that were keeping them in the game and he set the finals record for most freethrows without a miss. Siakam\Gasol just played terrible tonight and Lowry was in foul trouble all while playing against 4 allstars. I don't understand how that's a bad game from Leonard, if Siakam even has an average game or Lowry was out of foul trouble they probably win tonight's game.

5 pts in the 4th quarter is unacceptable from him. He choked. And 3 of those points were late fts

He was out in the beginning of the 4th quarter and checked back in when they were down about 10 points, how is that choking. He was all over the rebounds in the 4th quarter, his supporting cast was just choking.

Everything's a "choke" nowadays on RealGM

[B-Ball Freak]

Crazy to think that even with KD out..gsw can still field a lineup of steph,klay,iguodala,green,boogie

I really like the fit of that unit as well.

Friggin stacked

[DonaldSanders]

Whatever happened to one team playing better than the other? One team winning and the other losing? Why does one team have to choke? Why does one team have to suck?

I think choke is a simplistic way to say it (and tbh I did today) but there's some truth during an 18-0 run that you have the other team psychologically on the ropes. That's part of big runs/comebacks, one team emotionally lets down and gets mentally defeated which increases the total damage point-wise, call it what you want. Against a team like the Warriors it is so mentally defeating when your lead slips away. It's so hard for any team to develop a lead against the W's, then if it is suddenly gone it is so hard to push back in time because the weight of the work hits you. I definitely think panic at some level was involved for such a massive run to occur right out of halftime.

[BayArea408415]

LOL Most stacked team ever wins with the help of the refs.

Repeating this multiple times in each series thread before it is closed does not make it true. Curry missed key minutes in the 1st half due to being sick and shot 0-5 to start the game. Klay missed the 4th quarter due to injuring his hamstring and Cousins is still hobbled. Even Iguodala had to leave the game shortly in the 2nd half too. This is on top of Durant being out.

At one point in the 2nd quarter, the Warriors trotted out Klay with hobbled Cousins + borderline D league players for several minutes. You’re acting like this is a 100% healthy Warriors team with Durant playing out there. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

As for the refs, they were terrible both ways. At the very least, most neutral fans can see that. The 3rd quarter run by the Warriors and scoring drought cost the Raptors. Siakam’s 14/17 from last game averaged out to 19/35 after going 5/18 this game so that was significant as well. Green’s defense on him was great.

[clyde21]

again, a very weak 34 points. looked better on the box score. almost half came at the FT line. almost had as many turnovers as shots made, also was a 2nd raptors worst -14 on the game.

defensively, he's not even defending Steph, so he's not even taking the toughest assignment either.

some sensationalizing his performance.

Right. Kawhi really needs to step up. 13-34 fg for 38%, 28fta (45.6% of his points come from fts), 8 assists: 7 TO for the series

34 points on 20 FGA while getting double teamed half the game, 14 rebounds including offensive rebounds late in the 4th quarter that were keeping them in the game and he set the finals record for most freethrows without a miss. Siakam\Gasol just played terrible tonight and Lowry was in foul trouble all while playing against 4 allstars. I don't understand how that's a bad game from Leonard, if Siakam even has an average game or Lowry was out of foul trouble they probably win tonight's game.

dude, other people already told you. you're being extremely disingenuous when you keep repeating 34 pts on 20 shots. It's not true. He got 18 points on those 20 shots. The rest came on FTs.

this is a bad look for u.