Kawhi imposed his will on the game and his team followed him. He gets the job done.
WARRIORS FORWARD DRAYMOND GREEN
“He imposed his will on the game and his team followed him,” said Draymond Green. “He gets the job done.”
This is why Kawhi’s value to the Raptors is priceless. Until now, Toronto lacked a player with his presence, someone who forced other teams to gameplan differently, someone who seems to thrive when the stakes are highest and is driven in these situations. They didn’t have that with DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry, the leaders and best players of those teams that flourished in the regular season and failed in the postseason.
Leonard clearly has the Warriors rattled and their defense stressed whenever he’s in isolation or bracing to attack.
“He hit every big shot, every big momentum shot,” said Curry.
Just the same, the Kawhi-inspired defense weighed heavily not only in this game but for much of the series. With the exception of Curry’s monstrous 47-point outburst in Game 3, Toronto hasn’t yielded much from the Warriors — surely, Kevin Durant’s absence and Thompson’s missed game contributed. Yet the Raptors are floating Leonard around the floor, sneaking in doubles on Thompson and Curry, leaving Green open and encouraging him to shoot, and essentially making it tough for the Warriors to go on a big scoring spree. Toronto has outscored the Warriors in 13 of the 16 quarters of this series.
Hounded by the Raptors’ perimeter defense, and maybe gassed from two nights earlier, Curry made only a pair of 3-pointers Friday and never developed a rhythm. And while Thompson returned from his injury with 28 points, he was harmless in the fourth quarter and his team quiet.
“They’ve been aggressive all series in trying to take space away from me and Klay,” Curry said.
As the Warriors and the crowd disappeared from the arena, there was a sense of finality in the air inside Oracle. If the Warriors don’t win Monday, then the last memory of their home of nearly six decades will be a deflating one. Instead of dreamy visions of Curry and Thompson and Durant spraying jumpers, it will be Leonard punishing the Warriors and the home team powerless to stop him or from being pushed to the brink.
And speaking of Durant: Coach Steve Kerr has now gone radio silent about his superstar’s availability for Monday or beyond. The subject has become tiresome because there’s no resolution regarding someone who hasn’t played in a month.
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