TORONTO – Nanalasa ang two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors sa third quarter upang malusutan ang matamlay na simula at maitakas ang 109-104 panalo laban sa Toronto Raptors noong Linggo (Lunes sa Manila) na nagtabla sa NBA Finals sa 1-1.
Sinimulan ng Warriors ang third quarter sa pamamagitan ng 18-0 run upang agawin ang kalamangan na hindi na nila binitiwan.
Umabante ang Toronto ng hanggang 12 points sa first half kung saan gumana ang kanilang depensa upang mapabagal ang Warriors subalit bumalikwas ang Golden State matapos ang break.
“It pretty much won us the game because we established our defensive presence, we got stops and everybody got involved in the offensive end,” wika ni Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
“And when you come to the timeout after a couple runs like that and everybody’s involved … the vibe is just solid, and we know that we have taken control of the momentum and then it’s just about sustaining it down the stretch.”
Nagbuhos si Klay Thompson ng team-high 25 points para sa Golden State bago lumabas sa fourth quarter dahil sa hamstring injury at nagdagdag si Curry ng 23.
Nanguna naman si Kawhi Leonard para sa Raptors sa kinamadang game-high 34 points.
Naisalpak ni Toronto’s Danny Green ang isang three-pointer upang makalapit ang Raptors sa dalawang puntos, may 26 segundo ang nalalabi, subalit sumagot si wide-open Andrew Iguodala ng isang clutch three, may pitong segundo sa orasan, upang selyuhan ang panalo.
“We were up guarding hard, and we put two on Steph and he almost threw it right to Kawhi, right? It was pretty good defense, they were scrambling around, running around like crazy,” wika ni Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.
“And they found Iggy, right, and they found him and like I said, if he’s going to take that and give us a chance to get the ball back and win the game, we’re going to probably live with that.”
Nakatakda ang Game 3 sa Miyerkoles (Huwebes sa Manila), na maaaring tampukan ng pagbabalik ni Kevin Durant.
Tiyak na rerebyuhin ng Toronto, na nagwagi sa series opener na nadominahan ng Warriors sa magkabilang dulo ng court, ang Game 2, partikular ang malamig na simula sa third quarter kung saan hindi sila nakaiskor sa halos anim na minute.
“That was pretty much the game right there,” wika ni Leonard. “You can’t do that with a championship team on the other side.”
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