TORONTO – Gumawa ng kasaysayan ang Toronto Raptors nang umabante sa NBA Finals sa unang pagkakataon makaraang malusutan ang Milwaukee Bucks, 100-94, sa Game 6 noong Sabado ng gabi (Linggo sa Manila).
Naghahabol ng 15 points, may 2:18 ang nalalabi sa third quarter, umiskor ang Raptors ng huling 10 points sa frame. Kasunod nito, habang nasa bench si Kawhi Leonard sa unang 3:30 ng fourth quarter ay kinuha nila ang two-point lead.
Sa muling pagpasok ni Leonard sa court ay tumatag ang Raptors. Tumapos siya na may 27 points — pito sa fourth quarter — career-best 17 re-bounds at 7 assists.
“Just one possession at a time,” wika ni Leonard sa paglalarawan sa kanilang paghabol. “We kept fighting the whole game.”
Sisimulan ng Raptors, natalo sa unang dalawang laro ng Eastern Conference finals bago nanalo ng apat na sunod, ang NBA Finals sa home sa Huwebes ng gabi (Biyernes sa Manila) laban sa Golden State Warriors.
“It’s still surreal to me right now,” ani Leonard. “But this is what we’ve been striving for all season. It’s not over yet.”
Nagdagdag si Pascal Siakam ng 18 points, gumawa si Kyle Lowry ng 17 at umiskor si Fred VanVleet ng 14 parac Raptors.
“Kawhi stays level-headed all the time,” sabi ni Lowry. “He brought that pedigree with him.”
“He inspired us tonight with monster rebounds,” dagdag ni Raptors coach Nick Nurse . “It wasn’t going well for us, it was kind of a frustrating night. … But we kept playing.”
Si Lowry ay pitong taon nang nabigo sa playoffs sa Raptors.
“It means a lot to me,” wika ni Lowry. “We beat a really good team in Milwaukee. But I’m not satisfied yet. Our goal is to win the NBA champion-ship.”
Nagbuhos si Giannis Antetokounmpo ng 21 points at 11 rebounds para sa Bucks, na tangan ang NBA’s best record (60-22) sa regular season. Nag-ambag si Brook Lopez ng 18 points, 9 rebounds at 3 blocks, tumipa si Khris Middleton ng 14 points, nakakolekta si Ersan Ilyasova ng 13, at umis-kor sina Malcolm Brogdon at George Hill ng tig-10.
“This hurts,” pahayag ni Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “But what they did in the playoffs tonight against a really good Toronto Raptors team, and to get to get the Eastern Conference finals, the regular season, a special season for us. We feel like we’re just getting started.”
“We have to get better as a team and get better as individuals,” ani Antetokounmpo. “This is the beginning of a long journey for us.”
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