What's the Most Important Factor in Game 6?

[13th Man]

We need good production from Siakam, Gasol and Green. We need to make Cousins ineffective by exploiting him early and taking him out of the game.

[LKN]

Unless something changes in the relative defensive quality of the two teams GS will have to shoot significantly better than the Raptors to win any more games.

Game1: GS .513 efg%, TOR .591 efg%
Game2: GS .543 efg%, TOR .431 efg%
Game3: GS .462 efg%, TOR .628 efg%
Game4: GS .500 efg%, TOR .477 efg%
Game5: GS .585 efg%, TOR .494 efg%

TOR has shown they can win even when shooting worse than GS. GS has only won when their eFG% exceeds TOR's by +- .100 (or more obviously). Even in game 5. GS outshot TOR by .091 efg% and only won by a single point.

[ropjhk]

It comes down to the role players. Specifically I'm thinking about Cousins and Danny Green. I think those 2 players are the biggest x-factors amongst the role players.

[Wilber85]

I hate to say it but my X factor is Demarcus Cousins. He needs to play smart, and in his role.

[jpengland]

3 point shooting.

If Iggy and Green punish the Raps for leaving them open, it breaks open the whole offense for Curry and Thompson.

[Ben Simmons]

Raptors don't need to shoot well to win, whereas GS have to shoot well
Raptors can get to the free-throw line more, Kawhi can especially, and Gasol and Siakam can score in the paint.
Toronto are the more versatile team.

[Winsome Gerbil]

Cousins had nothing in both home losses vs. the Raps. He has been a significant contributor in both GS wins in the series. it's supporting cast, but it's more than that. Durant is gone, and without him they need a good game from Boogie to give them that extra boost. Steph and Klay alone are not enough, let alone if one of them has an off game.

[TG81]

Kyle Lowry

based on his play during this years post season, I question his so called all star status. I think he is the difference maker and is probably choking again or his skills has diminished greatly... if he plays offensively like a multiple time all star, hitting 3 , two's , the Raptors will have the advantage.

Siakam is inconsistent and thats understandable, he is going against capable defenders

kyle's offensive impact has been minimal from the orlando series to the Sixers and now GS..

Kyle has not pressured curry into playing any defense.. curry seems tired from having to score , he should be exhausted from playing defense on kyle etc (rip hamilton on reggie miller covering him.."if im tired reggie must be exhausted"..).. i understand the age difference in that kyle is much older than curry. If curry's focus and energy is solely on the offensive end, then raps are going to struggle heavily.

[KrisKringle]

To me it's supporting casts. Toronto's gotten very good contributions from 1-7 in their rotation just about every game thus far. GSW have gotten very little out of anyone outside of Curry, Klay, and Draymond (defensively). GSW's room for error is very slim with poor defense and almost no bench contributions.

Their supporting cast will have to play above their expectations (and a player or two significantly above) if they want any hope of winning.

[MetalFingaz]

There's a lot of potential variation here, but the biggest factor is Kawhi. If he has a hyper-efficient scoring game OR he finally decides to play elite defense, the Raptors win. His injury may be worse than we think, but he hasn't shown DPOY-level defense this series. If he does, it's over.

[Samurai]

Why isn't refs an option ?

I'm assuming that would be covered under "other". But if there is a significant FT disparity, that could be huge, particularly for the Warriors. The Raptors had 13 more FT attempts than GSW; without KD, I don't see how the Warriors can win if they are conceding that many extra points to the Raptors. Assuming everyone on Toronto is able to play, they are good enough that they can concede some FT advantage to the Warriors and still win; GSW cannot. In short, the Warriors just don't have any margin for error without KD. The Raptors just have a larger margin.

[Samurai]

If the Warriors can get a 3rd player to step up offensively.

If they do, they can win.

If not, they'll need a lot of things to go their way.

I think that is too simplistic. Let's say Cousins steps up and scores 20 points, which he did seven times this season so it is within the realm of possibilities. If either Klay or Curry are cold, which can happen to anyone who relies on 3-point shooting as much as they do, Warriors still lose. If Klay, Curry and Cousins all score over 20 but they continue to leave wide open 3's to the Raptors, and we have to assume that Toronto won't shoot a 25% again, Dubs can still lose. If the whistles result in Toronto shooting a lot more FT's than the Warriors, which is entirely possible without KD (KD is the only Warrior with a FTr that can match Kawhi), Warriors can still lose.

Besides just having a 3rd player stepping up offensively, Warriors need to have a lot more things to break in their favor without KD compared to the Raptors with the players they have available.

[xdrta+]

Why isn't refs an option ?

Marc Davis is working tonight. The Raptors are 9-0 in games Davis has officiated this season, including three wins in the playoffs. The Warriors, on the other hand, are 3-5.