Jun 1, 2019
Raptors and Warriors both keeping their cool ahead of Game 2
The Toronto Raptors lead the Golden State Warriors 1-0 in the NBA Finals, but you wouldn’t know if from being around either team on the eve of Sunday’s Game 2, Josh Lewenberg writes.

TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors lead the Golden State Warriors 1-0 in the NBA Finals, but you wouldn’t know if from being around either team on the eve of Sunday’s Game 2.
The Raptors aren’t exactly strutting around as if they’ve got this in the bag after Thursday’s impressive series-opening win. Meanwhile, the Warriors are hardly hanging their heads.
That’s one of the reasons why both clubs are here – having outlasted many others that couldn’t overcome the highs and lows along the way – and it’s why this could be a long, grind-it-out battle for the championship. Neither team has been fazed by the emotional roller coaster that is the NBA playoffs.
“I mean, it's pretty crazy that everyone is just kind of staying the same way,” Kyle Lowry said of his team following their light Saturday afternoon practice. “We have been preaching it all year, so it kind of just became contagious. Most guys' personalities are even-keeled off the court. On the court, we've got some fiery guys. But off the floor we have some grown men, people with families and kids. They understand that their profession is their lives. That's what they do: They take care of their families, their friends, their bodies. They're professionals.”
For Toronto, that’s been a priority since September and something head coach Nick Nurse talked to his team about on the very first day of training camp.
He wanted them to stay balanced over the course of an 82-game slog, and they did. Through injuries, load management, starting lineup and rotation changes, a big mid-season trade, and other adversity, the Raptors kept their cool and stayed together.
The playoffs are a different animal, though. If you’re one of the teams lucky enough to be playing into June, or even late-May, it can be physically and mentally exhausting. The spotlight, the pressure, the emotional swings – it can wear you down and break even the best of teams.
However, the Raptors have withstood it all. They faced series deficits in each of the first three rounds. They dropped their postseason opener, they played a do-or-die Game 7 in the Conference Semis, and they trailed 2-0 to the team with the league’s best record in the East Final. As a team, their demeanour in each of those adverse situations barely differed from how they carried themselves in the moments of triumph to follow.
Even after they won Game 6 against Milwaukee on their home court to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, the celebration was subdued. There were a few smiles and some congratulatory embraces, but the champagne wasn’t flowing, at least not yet.
Now, just three wins away from their ultimate goal – the Larry O’Brien Trophy – they’re still of the mindset that there’s plenty of work left to be done, and the focus hasn’t wavered.
It helps when your best player is as level-headed as they come. Kawhi Leonard credits his uniquely stoic and unflappable personality to his NBA upbringing with one of the premier organizations in professional sports, the San Antonio Spurs.
“Coming right in as a rookie probably helped me, just guarding the best player every night,” said the superstar forward. “Always wanting to win. Learning from the great teammates that I had then, from Tim [Duncan], Tony [Parker] and Manu [Ginobili]. Seeing how they approached the game – every game, win, lose, missing a shot, game-winning shot, making a bad mistake. I guess just growing up, being in these moments before.”
“I just try to take my experiences and just keep moving forward and just have fun. Like I said, it’s just basketball at this point. Win, lose or draw, I'm still going to be living, still got a family. This is all for fun.”
There’s no denying that Leonard’s nature has set the tone and rubbed off on his teammates.
“I would be lying to you if I said it didn't,” Lowry admitted. “And also Marc [Gasol] and Danny [Green] and [Coach Nurse]. I think Nick honestly yelled at us twice the whole year. That's legit: twice the whole year. And that's a long season to only yell at a team twice. I think that's just Nick and Kawhi and Marc and Danny – everyone is just kind of going out there and staying even-keeled.”
“Like I said, we have real professionals. We have some great guys in that locker room. It all just rubs together and everyone has their own personalities, but we figure out a way to just all understand what the common goal is.”
The Warriors stand in their way of that goal, and they find themselves in an unfamiliar position. This is only the fifth time under Steve Kerr that Golden State has trailed in a playoff series, and just the second time they’ve trailed in the Finals.
Still, they remain confident, as you might expect given their championship pedigree.
“Confidence is obviously big in anything you do, any profession you're in,” said Klay Thompson. “It starts with our leader in Steph Curry. You just see it in his game, his ability to pull up from 35 feet anywhere on the floor. Draymond [Green] as well, who plays with great passion and confidence. When the best guys on your team do that, it trickles down. You need that, especially in this industry. You can't go out there and doubt yourself, especially on this stage. Especially when you have a proven track record of winning and great team chemistry and all that. So we're never going to doubt ourselves, no matter what position we're in.”
“They got rings,” Lowry said. “They got rings and they can be confident. We can't really worry about them. We have to continue to worry about us. They're going to be them and they're going to do their thing, but for us we have to concentrate on us and focus on what we have to do. We can't worry about this, that. We go out there and we do our game plan and we focus on what we can control. That's what we have done all year. We haven't worried about this, that and the other, in the sense of we go out there and we control what we can control on our end. We play against a team that we're going to play against, but we have to do our job.”
Even without Kevin Durant – who could return for Game 3 in Oakland but is not expected to play on Sunday – the Raptors are anticipating Golden State’s best shot in Game 2.
The Warriors probably aren’t going to shoot worse than they did in the opener (44 per cent) and they feel like they can tighten some things up defensively, especially against Pascal Siakam who terrorized them in transition. However, Toronto won Game 1 without Leonard at his best (23 points on 5-of-14 shooting). They also feel like they can and will be better.
Two heavyweights exchanging blows, neither of them likely to back down. The Warriors are down but they’re never out. The Raptors are up but know well enough not to get complacent. One will come out of this thing with the title, but they’re going to have to earn it. This could be a long series.
“It’s first to four, not first to one,” Thompson said. “So [there’s] still a lot of basketball to be played.”