2019 NBA Finals
The 2019 NBA Finals was a championship series in the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2018–19 season. Both teams played in a "best-of-seven" series (one team has to win at least four games). This series began on May 30th and ended on June 13th, with the Raptors winning 4-2.[1] The Toronto Raptors won against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. Kawhi Leonard was named the Finals MVP for the second time in his career, after 2014. Both teams had won their conference finals (the Raptors play in the Eastern Conference and the Warriors play in the Western Conference), meaning that they had to face off. This was the first time the Raptors won an NBA Finals and also the first time a Canadian team, and a team outside the United States overall, had won the Finals.[2][3]
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| Dates | May 30 – June 13 | ||||||||||
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| MVP | Kawhi Leonard | ||||||||||
| Television | Canada: English: Sportsnet/Citytv (Games 1, 3, and 5) TSN/CTV 2 (Games 2, 4, and 6) French: RDS United States: English: ABC Spanish: ESPN Deportes | ||||||||||
| Announcers | Canada:
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| Radio network | ESPN Radio (English (United States)) Golden State Warriors Radio Network (Golden State) Sportsnet 590 The FAN (Toronto) TSN Radio 1050 (Toronto) | ||||||||||
| Announcers | Marc Kestecher and Hubie Brown (ESPN Radio) Tim Roye, Jim Barnett and Tom Tolbert (Golden State) Eric Smith and Paul Jones (Toronto) | ||||||||||
| Referees | |||||||||||
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| Eastern Finals | Raptors defeated Bucks, 4–2 | ||||||||||
| Western Finals | Warriors defeated Trail Blazers, 4–0 | ||||||||||
The Warriors played in the NBA Finals again. It was their fifth straight time playing in the Finals, and their last until 2022. This was the first time that the Raptors had ever played in the NBA Finals, just 23 years after they joined the league in 1996.
This was the first Finals since 2010 not to include LeBron James who played in the last eight Finals. Of which, he made four each with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Series summary
change| Game | Date | Away Team | Result | Home Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Thursday, May 30 | Golden State Warriors | 109–118 (0–1) | Toronto Raptors |
| Game 2 | Sunday, June 2 | Golden State Warriors | 109–104 (1–1) | Toronto Raptors |
| Game 3 | Wednesday, June 5 | Toronto Raptors | 123–109 (2–1) | Golden State Warriors |
| Game 4 | Friday, June 7 | Toronto Raptors | 105–92 (3–1) | Golden State Warriors |
| Game 5 | Monday, June 10 | Golden State Warriors | 106–105 (2–3) | Toronto Raptors |
| Game 6 | Thursday, June 13 | Toronto Raptors | 114–110 (4–2) | Golden State Warriors |
Victory parade
changeOn 17 June, the Raptors held a parade in Toronto to celebrate them winning. It began at Princes' Gates in Exhibition Place and ended at Nathan Phillips Square next to the Toronto City Hall.[4] Over two million people came to watch the parade. Because of this, the parade was the largest public gathering in Canadian history. However, because there were so many people, the parade was slowed down by three hours.[5]
References
change- ↑ "When do the 2019 NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals begin?". NBA. 25 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
- ↑ Ewing, Lori (13 June 2019). "Toronto Raptors Win NBA Finals, Make History As 1st Canadian Champions". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 15 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ↑ Westoll, Nick (13 June 2019). "Raptors make NBA history by defeating Warriors to win Finals". Global News. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ↑ "Everything you need to know about the Raptors' victory parade Monday". CBC News. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ↑ McLaughlin, Amara (18 June 2019). "Raptors Toronto victory parade marred by organizational problems". CBC News. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
