By Daily Sports on June 12, 2019
The Golden State Warriors kept their pursuit of a third straight NBA title alive with a 106-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors in game five.
The Raptors, seeking a first title, had led the seven-match series 3-1, an advantage that has only been overturned once in Finals history.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points for the Warriors, who lost the returning Kevin Durant to injury in the second quarter.
The Raptors have a second chance to clinch the title in Oakland on Friday.
Game seven, if required, will be back in Toronto on Sunday.
Point guard Curry, 31, described Monday’s game as “do or die”, adding: “It wasn’t pretty in the second half but we just made the shots.”
The relief was tempered, however, by the loss of Durant, who had just returned to the court from a calf problem after missing nine play-off games, and suffered a right Achilles tendon injury that left him unable to continue.
The 30-year-old, who was named 2017 and 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player and is Golden State’s top play-off scorer with 34.2 points a game, left the venue on crutches and will have a scan.
“On the one hand I’m so proud of them, just the amazing heart and grit they showed, and on the other I’m just devastated for Kevin," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“So it’s a bizarre feeling we all have right now - an incredible win and a horrible loss at the same time.”
The Warriors have won three titles in the past four seasons - their loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 is the only occasion a team has given up a 3-1 lead in Finals, which began in 1947. (BBC)
•Photo shows Golden State Warriors players
Source Daily Sports
Posted June 12, 2019
You may also like...
Goalkeeper Alisson Scores Winner As Liverpool Beat West...
Sunshine Stars unveil Eguavoen as new Head Coach,...
Rohr rates Morocco’s football development ahead Nigeria
Raiola: Ferguson called me a t*** during Pogba...
Champions League: Don’t Write Off Man Utd against...
NFF Working To Settle Super Eagles And Rohr’s...

Madugu hints at rotation after Nnadozie errors
Oyo players shine at 10th AGWF Basketball Combine
Oyo players shine at 10th AGWF Basketball Combine
Burkina Faso beat Nigeria to U-20 AFCON ticket
Ex-coach backs Uzun-Osimhen partnership at Gala
18 teams qualify for 2027 FIFA Women’s World C
Cameroon dump champions Nigeria out of WAFCON
Age controversy rocks Junior D’Tigers amid losses
Gift eyes more goals at WAFCON
Babajide relishes POTM honour
I want to leave records that will be hard to break – Ogazi
USA to host Joshua vs Fury match
Rangers International going, going . . . (64,016 views)
Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (55,368 views)
Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (53,266 views)
Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (52,866 views)
Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (52,746 views)
Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (52,621 views)
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (52,513 views)
NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (52,023 views)
Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (51,236 views)
Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (49,706 views)
Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (48,193 views)
John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (47,574 views)