Recent from talks
2019 NBA Finals
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
2019 NBA Finals
The 2019 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2018–19 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series, the Eastern Conference champion Toronto Raptors defeated the two-time defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors in six games to win their first NBA championship as well as the first win by an NBA team based outside the United States. Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second time in his career, becoming the first player to be named the Finals MVP while playing for both conferences. The series began on May 30 and ended on June 13. This was the first NBA Finals appearance for the Raptors, and the league's first finals with games played outside of the United States.
The Raptors finished the regular season with a 58–24 record, the second-best in the league and in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors had a 57–25 record, finishing the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference and third-best overall. with ambitions to become the first team in NBA history since the Los Angeles Lakers (2000 to 2002 to achieve a three-peat, having previously won in 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals. It marked the first time since 2015 that the Warriors opened the series on the road. This was also the first Finals since 2010 not to feature LeBron James, who played in the past eight Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.
The Raptors opened the series with a dominant Game 1 victory. After the Warriors tied the series in Game 2, the Raptors won the next two games on the road to move on the verge of an NBA championship. Back in Toronto, Kevin Durant returned after several absences in the playoffs, only to tear his Achilles tendon in a close game. Nonetheless, the Warriors held off a chance for the Raptors to win the title at home, sending the series to a Game 6 in the Oracle Arena for the last time. There, Klay Thompson would suffer an ACL tear, and the Raptors went on to win in another close game. This is the most recent Finals featuring the defending champions.
During the off-season, Golden State acquired DeMarcus Cousins, who was recovering from a ruptured left Achilles. He gave the Warriors a true, top-flight center for the first time under head coach Steve Kerr. During an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in November 2018, Draymond Green cursed out teammate Kevin Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. In January 2019, Cousins returned, and the Warriors became the first team in 42 years with a starting lineup of five NBA All-Stars from the previous season. The team finished the regular season with a 57–25 record, winning the Pacific Division and securing the 1st seed in the Western Conference.
In the playoffs, Golden State defeated the Clippers in six games in the first round, despite blowing leads at home in Games 2 and 5. Cousins tore his left quadriceps in Game 2, and was initially thought to be out for the remainder of the postseason. With an increased urgency and in a sign of respect towards their opponent, Kerr opened the following round against the Houston Rockets by moving Andre Iguodala from the bench and starting the Hamptons Five for the first time in the season. With the Splash Brothers—Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson—struggling with their shooting, Durant had been the team's best player in the playoffs, averaging a team-leading 35.4 points entering Game 5. However, Durant left the game late in the third quarter after suffering a strained right calf; he was later ruled out indefinitely. Led by Curry and Thompson, Golden State pulled out Game 5 without Durant, and won the series in six games thanks to Stephen Curry's 33-point second half. In the Western Conference finals, Golden State swept the Portland Trail Blazers 4–0, with three of the wins including comebacks of 15 points or more. After starting nine consecutive games, Iguodala missed the deciding Game 4 with a sore left calf injury from Game 3. Curry averaged a series career-high 36.5 points, the highest average by a player in a four-game sweep in NBA history. This was Golden State's fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and they were aiming to be the first since the Shaq and Kobe-led Los Angeles Lakers to win 3-peat titles. After losing the Finals to the Raptors, they became the second team not to earn a 3-peat, joining the Miami Heat who lost their quest in 2014 to the San Antonio Spurs, who ended their own seven-year title drought. They were the second team in NBA history to achieve the feat of appearing in at least five consecutive Finals, joining the Boston Celtics, who played in ten straight Finals (1957–1966).
During the off-season, the Raptors fired coach Dwane Casey, who was named the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year weeks later, and replaced him with assistant coach Nick Nurse. They also traded DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Pöltl to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The move stunned the All-Star DeRozan, who had become a fan favorite in his nine seasons in Toronto. It was a risky move for the Raptors and their president, Masai Ujiri, as Leonard was one year away from becoming a free agent, and he wanted to leave the Spurs after playing in just nine games in 2017–18 due to tendinopathy in his left quadriceps, however the 2014 NBA Finals MVP made it through the season healthy while being systematically rested for 22 games. During the season, Toronto also traded a package that included Jonas Valančiūnas to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for one of the league's elite post-defenders, Marc Gasol.
The Raptors lost Game 1 of the first round to the Orlando Magic, but then won the next four games in a row to win the series in five games. After trailing 2–1 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, they defeated them in seven games, with Leonard hitting the game-winner at the buzzer as the ball bounced four times on the rim before falling in, the first buzzer beater in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history. Toronto advanced to the Eastern Conference finals to face the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite trailing 2–0, the Raptors won the next four games to advance to the Finals in six games, as Leonard outplayed the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won league MVP that season. This was their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history, breaking a 25-year drought for teams from Toronto appearing in the championship round of any of the four major North American professional sports leagues since Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series.
The Raptors won the regular season series 2–0.
Hub AI
2019 NBA Finals AI simulator
(@2019 NBA Finals_simulator)
2019 NBA Finals
The 2019 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2018–19 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series, the Eastern Conference champion Toronto Raptors defeated the two-time defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors in six games to win their first NBA championship as well as the first win by an NBA team based outside the United States. Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second time in his career, becoming the first player to be named the Finals MVP while playing for both conferences. The series began on May 30 and ended on June 13. This was the first NBA Finals appearance for the Raptors, and the league's first finals with games played outside of the United States.
The Raptors finished the regular season with a 58–24 record, the second-best in the league and in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors had a 57–25 record, finishing the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference and third-best overall. with ambitions to become the first team in NBA history since the Los Angeles Lakers (2000 to 2002 to achieve a three-peat, having previously won in 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals. It marked the first time since 2015 that the Warriors opened the series on the road. This was also the first Finals since 2010 not to feature LeBron James, who played in the past eight Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.
The Raptors opened the series with a dominant Game 1 victory. After the Warriors tied the series in Game 2, the Raptors won the next two games on the road to move on the verge of an NBA championship. Back in Toronto, Kevin Durant returned after several absences in the playoffs, only to tear his Achilles tendon in a close game. Nonetheless, the Warriors held off a chance for the Raptors to win the title at home, sending the series to a Game 6 in the Oracle Arena for the last time. There, Klay Thompson would suffer an ACL tear, and the Raptors went on to win in another close game. This is the most recent Finals featuring the defending champions.
During the off-season, Golden State acquired DeMarcus Cousins, who was recovering from a ruptured left Achilles. He gave the Warriors a true, top-flight center for the first time under head coach Steve Kerr. During an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in November 2018, Draymond Green cursed out teammate Kevin Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. In January 2019, Cousins returned, and the Warriors became the first team in 42 years with a starting lineup of five NBA All-Stars from the previous season. The team finished the regular season with a 57–25 record, winning the Pacific Division and securing the 1st seed in the Western Conference.
In the playoffs, Golden State defeated the Clippers in six games in the first round, despite blowing leads at home in Games 2 and 5. Cousins tore his left quadriceps in Game 2, and was initially thought to be out for the remainder of the postseason. With an increased urgency and in a sign of respect towards their opponent, Kerr opened the following round against the Houston Rockets by moving Andre Iguodala from the bench and starting the Hamptons Five for the first time in the season. With the Splash Brothers—Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson—struggling with their shooting, Durant had been the team's best player in the playoffs, averaging a team-leading 35.4 points entering Game 5. However, Durant left the game late in the third quarter after suffering a strained right calf; he was later ruled out indefinitely. Led by Curry and Thompson, Golden State pulled out Game 5 without Durant, and won the series in six games thanks to Stephen Curry's 33-point second half. In the Western Conference finals, Golden State swept the Portland Trail Blazers 4–0, with three of the wins including comebacks of 15 points or more. After starting nine consecutive games, Iguodala missed the deciding Game 4 with a sore left calf injury from Game 3. Curry averaged a series career-high 36.5 points, the highest average by a player in a four-game sweep in NBA history. This was Golden State's fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and they were aiming to be the first since the Shaq and Kobe-led Los Angeles Lakers to win 3-peat titles. After losing the Finals to the Raptors, they became the second team not to earn a 3-peat, joining the Miami Heat who lost their quest in 2014 to the San Antonio Spurs, who ended their own seven-year title drought. They were the second team in NBA history to achieve the feat of appearing in at least five consecutive Finals, joining the Boston Celtics, who played in ten straight Finals (1957–1966).
During the off-season, the Raptors fired coach Dwane Casey, who was named the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year weeks later, and replaced him with assistant coach Nick Nurse. They also traded DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Pöltl to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The move stunned the All-Star DeRozan, who had become a fan favorite in his nine seasons in Toronto. It was a risky move for the Raptors and their president, Masai Ujiri, as Leonard was one year away from becoming a free agent, and he wanted to leave the Spurs after playing in just nine games in 2017–18 due to tendinopathy in his left quadriceps, however the 2014 NBA Finals MVP made it through the season healthy while being systematically rested for 22 games. During the season, Toronto also traded a package that included Jonas Valančiūnas to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for one of the league's elite post-defenders, Marc Gasol.
The Raptors lost Game 1 of the first round to the Orlando Magic, but then won the next four games in a row to win the series in five games. After trailing 2–1 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, they defeated them in seven games, with Leonard hitting the game-winner at the buzzer as the ball bounced four times on the rim before falling in, the first buzzer beater in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history. Toronto advanced to the Eastern Conference finals to face the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite trailing 2–0, the Raptors won the next four games to advance to the Finals in six games, as Leonard outplayed the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won league MVP that season. This was their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history, breaking a 25-year drought for teams from Toronto appearing in the championship round of any of the four major North American professional sports leagues since Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series.
The Raptors won the regular season series 2–0.