The NBA Finals starts on Friday, with all games to be shown LIVE locally on ABS-CBN, S+A, BTV, and NBA Premium. The schedule can be surmised below.
What are the major storylines to watch? Here are some.
O Canada!. The Toronto Raptors capped off their most impressive six-year stretch in franchise history with their first-ever Finals berth. It also marks the first time the NBA Finals will be played outside of the United States. Very much befitting, since the sport was invented by a Canadian. (Yes, Dr. James Naismith was born in Almonte, Mississippi Hills, Ontario.)
International Flavor. The NBA takes pride in its global reach, and the NBA Finals is no exception, especially with the Raptors. Five players were born outside of the United States: OG Anunoby (England), Chris Boucher (Canada), Marc Gasol (Spain), Republic of the Congo (Serge Ibaka), and Cameroon (Pascal Siakam). That even extends to the coaching staff, with the newly-minted head coach of the Canadian men's basketball team Nick Nurse, employing an Italian (Sergio Scariolo), a Congolese (DRC) (Patrick Mutombo), and a Canadian (Eric Khoury) as assistants. The Warriors also has an international flavor with Jonas Jerebko (Sweden) and Andrew Bogut (Australia).
Chasing Championships. The Warriors are the first team since the Bill Russell-era Boston Celtics (1957-66) to make it to five straight finals. Win the championship, and they would be the first team since the 2000-02 Los Angeles Lakers to win three straight titles. It would also break a tie with the Chicago Bulls for third place overall with potentially their seventh title. The Celtics have seventeen titles, with the Lakers toting sixteen.
G-League Pride. The G-League continues to have a prominent role with both finals teams. Nurse is the only coach to lead two G-League franchises to championships (Iowa Energy 2011, Rio Grande Valley Vipers 2013). Both teams have alums on their rosters. (the likes of Boucher, Siakam, Fred Van Vleet, Green for Toronto; Jordan Bell, Shaun Livingston, Kevon Looney, Quinn Cook for Golden State, among others)
Coaching acumen. Steve Kerr is the first head coach to make it to the NBA Finals in his first five season. He also joins Phil Jackson (13), Red Auerbach (11), Pat Riley (9), John Kundla (6), Gregg Popovich (6), and K.C. Jones (5) as the only coaches to reach that many NBA Finals. Kerr could have opted to hire Nurse as part of his staff, but Nick opted to stay in Toronto under Dwane Casey. Nurse joins Kerr in being the only NBA head coaches to make the finals in their debut.
Regular Season success. The Warriors have yet to defeat the Raptors this season, although both games came in a span of a couple of weeks early in the season. That was the first time the Raptors swept the regular seaon series since the 2001-02 season. At the Scotiabank Arena, Kevin Durant scored a season-high 51 points, but Kawhi Leonard's 37 points helped the Raptors fend off the Warriors in overtime, 131-128. The Raptors would then end their 13-game losing streak at Oracle Arena with a 113-93 victory, doing so without Kawhi, who was on load management. Kyle Lowry (23-5-12) and Serge Ibaka (20-12-1) contributed 20-10 double-doubles for Toronto.
Farewell. This is the final season Golden State will be playing at Oracle Arena, which has been their home for the last 47 seasons. It is the oldest home arena in the league. They will be moving across the bay from Oakland to San Francisco, with the completion of the Chase Center that is located in Mission Bay.
Kawhi or KD. Both guys are heading into free agency this offseason. One will be basking in the glow of a championship, though. The former has been scorching the nets in the playoffs, as only four players in NBA history have scored more points up to this point in a single postseason. The latter happens to be one of those four. The latter, if he comes back in time, could become the third player in NBA history to win the Finals MVP three straight seasons.
Familiarity. Current Raptors Jeremy Lin, Patrick McCaw, and Chris Boucher are familiar with the Warriors. Lin was a rookie with the Warriors, before they cut him. He moved to Houston for a couple of weeks, before the New York Knicks claimed him on waivers, setting the table for #Linsanity. McCaw and Boucher were part of the championship winning Warrior squads, the former actually won two titles, while the latter was a two-way player with the team and was not part of the playoff squad. McCaw was in an contract impasse with the Warriors this season, signed a deal to join the Cavaliers, then got waived and was picked up with the Raptors. On the other side, Alfonso McKinnie spent last season with the Raptors, spending time both with them and their G-League affiliate Raptors 905.
Time for some Curry. Since the KD injury, Stephen Curry has been on a roll for the champions, averaging 35.8 points in the last five games. Keep that impressive run going and he could finally snag that Finals MVP that would effectively burnish his growing legacy in the league. He'll also make history in the Finals by becoming the first player to make a hundred triples in his NBA Finals career. Take five more attempts and he'll surpass LeBron James in the all-time list in threes attempted in the NBA Finals. Take thirteen more attempts and he'll move past LeBron in the all-time playoff standings for threes attempted. In addition, he'll be stepping in some familiar territory, having spent time there during his father's stint with the Raptors back in 1999-2002. Steph was in middle school during that time, studying at Queenway Christian College. In addition, Steph's wife Ayesha was born and raised in Toronto before moving to Charlotte at 14.
Masai's swing for the fences. Even with LeBron moving west, Raptors President Masai Ujiri thought the team currently constituted at the time would not be enough to make headway and contend in the Eastern Conference. He thus then went out and acquired Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs, in exchange for a package that included fan favorite DeMar Derozan. He also fired Dwane Casey, who would later be named as the Coach of the Year that season. Masai also pulled off a midseason deal that sent a package that included Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas to Memphis for Spanish big man Marc Gasol. Making risky moves is something he has had experience, as he participated in the four-team trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, netting Andre Iguodala in the process. The risk did not really pan out, as Iguodala was eventually sent to Golden State on a sign-and-trade deal a few weeks after Masai agreed to take over the Raptors.
Challenging the Splash Brothers. The three-headed backcourt of Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Vleet, and Danny Green will have to be ready to step up to the challenge against the Splash Brothers. Lowry is the heart and soul of the team, being its longest-tenured player. He has seen all the postseason heartaches the franchise has gone through during his run. Van Vleet was an undrafted free agent who proudly "bet on himself" and proved the risk the worth it. His hot shooting in the last three games of the Eastern Conference Finals proved vital for Toronto in dispatching the Milwaukee Bucks. Green comes with the experience of being in the Finals, having helped San Antonio win a championship against Miami with his hot three-point shooting. The Tar Heel owns the highest three-point percentage in the NBA Finals among players with at least fifty attempts at 52.2 percent.
Teammates then, opponents now. Durant and Ibaka were teammates for seven seasons, with one of those seasons yielding a Finals berth for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevon Looney and Norman Powell were teammates at UCLA in the 2014-15 season, where they finished with a 22-14 record and a Sweet 16 berth.
Matchup to watch. With KD being injured, arguably the best one-on-one matchup features Draymond Green and Pascal Siakam. We know about Green's skills, having raised his game during the postseason. Siakam is this season's breakout star, likely to be named as the Most Improved Player in the NBA Awards next month. The New Mexico State alum is a multi-dimensional power forward who can defend multiple positions, act as a playmaker, grab a rebound and then lead the fastbreak, something Green can also do.
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