TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-high 32 points and the Toronto Raptors won the first NBA Finals game played outside the U.S., beating the Golden State Warriors 118-109 on Thursday night.

The Raptors hardly looked like newcomers to the NBA's biggest stage, controlling the action most of the way against a Golden State team beginning its fifth straight NBA Finals appearance.

Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Raptors, fueled by a crowd that couldn't wait for a party 24 years in the making.

"I think they were into it and that's the way it should be, man," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "That's what home court is, and our fans deserve a bunch of credit for being a big part of that."

TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 30: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts against the Toronto Raptors in the first quarter during Game One of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena on May 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, who had won all four Game 1s in the last four years. All those had come at home, but this time Golden State doesn't have home-court — or home country — advantage.

Game 2 is Sunday night in Toronto, which is hosting an NBA Finals game for the first time after the Raptors entered the league as an expansion team in 1995.

The Raptors were perhaps a little jittery at the start, with Kyle Lowry firing a pass well out of bounds on their first possession.

But they quickly settled in afterward, building a 10-point lead by halftime.

Siakam then went 6 for 6 in the third quarter to keep Golden State from gaining much ground, and the Raptors kept their lead around double digits for much of the final quarter, countering every attempt the Warriors made to catch up.

"I thought we made a good effort in the second half, got back in the game. Our guys did some good things, but made too many mistakes to actually go ahead and win the game," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

All four of the Warriors' previous finals were against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they struggled to figure out a new opponent. Toronto shot 50.6 percent from the field and the Warriors never found an answer for Siakam, the finalist for Most Improved Player who has a nice start for an NBA Finals MVP resume.

The player nicknamed Spicy P was red hot, shooting 14 for 17 from the field — and he tipped in his own shot on the last of those misses with 54 seconds to play.

Fans began arriving at Jurassic Park outside the arena in the morning. There were lengthy lines at the arena entrances hours before the game, with some of the few fans who weren't wearing Raptors red sticking to their original purple uniform with the dinosaur logo.

Rapper and Raptors global ambassador Drake sat in his courtside seat wearing a Curry No. 30 jersey. That's Dell Curry, Stephen's father who finished his career with the Raptors.

The Raptors introduced Dell Curry and some of their other former players after the first quarter, a group that included perennial All-Stars such as Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh.

But it wasn't until they went out and got Leonard in a trade with San Antonio that Toronto was finally good enough to get to the NBA Finals.

He wasn't the dominant force he was in the first three rounds, when he averaged 31.2 points. But he had eight rebounds and five assists in his first NBA Finals game since winning MVP of the 2014 championship with the Spurs.

DeMarcus Cousins made it back from a torn left quadriceps to come off the bench in his first NBA Finals game, but the Warriors remained without Kevin Durant, the MVP of the last two NBA Finals. He traveled to Toronto but it's unclear if he'll play before the series returns to the Bay Area, with Kerr saying he would have to go through a practice first.

The Warriors had won every game since he got hurt in the second round but sure missed him against the Raptors, who are on a roll after falling behind 2-0 to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals.

Warriors: Cousins finished with three points in eight minutes. ... Draymond Green had his fifth triple-double of the postseason with 10 points, 10 rebounds and assists, but shot just 2 for 9. ... Golden State had a 12-game winning streak in Game 1s snapped. ... Curry's four 3-pointers gave him a record 102 in the NBA Finals and he was also 14 for 14 from the free throw line.

Raptors: Danny Green went 3 for 7 from 2-point range after he was just 4 for 23 in the conference finals. ... The Raptors improved to just 4-15 in Game 1s.

>>Click here for more stories on the Warriors & the NBA Finals

For live, local news, download the KRONon app. It lets you watch commercial-free news from the Bay Area's Local News Station on multiple streaming devices.

Click here to subscribe for a free 7-day trial

WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
• WOMAN SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS FOR RAPE OF 5-MONTH-OLD GIRL
• SMALL TREMORS ALONG WEST COAST COULD LEAD TO 'BIG ONE'
• VICTIM KILLED IN HAWAII SHARK ATTACK WAS FROM GRANITE BAY </s> TORONTO — Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-high 32 points and the Toronto Raptors won the first NBA Finals game played outside the U.S., beating the Golden State Warriors 118-109 on Thursday night.

The Raptors hardly looked like newcomers to the NBA’s biggest stage, controlling the action most of the way against a Golden State team beginning its fifth straight NBA Finals appearance.

Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Raptors.

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, who had won all four Game 1s in the last four years. All those had come at home, but this time Golden State doesn’t have home-court — or home country — advantage.

Game 2 is Sunday night in Toronto, which is hosting an NBA Finals game for the first time after the Raptors entered the league as an expansion team in 1995.

The Raptors were perhaps a little jittery at the start, with Kyle Lowry firing a pass well out of bounds on their first possession.

But they quickly settled in afterward, building a 10-point lead by halftime. surging to an 18-11 lead before the Warriors came right back with eight in a row. Siakam then went 6 for 6 in the third quarter to keep Golden State from gaining much ground, and the Raptors kept their lead around double digits for much of the final quarter, countering every attempt the Warriors made to catch up.

All four of the Warriors’ previous finals were against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they struggled to figure out a new opponent. Toronto shot 50.6 percent from the field and the Warriors never found an answer for Siakam, the finalist for Most Improved Player who has a nice start for an NBA Finals MVP resume.

The player nicknamed Spicy P was red hot, shooting 14 for 17 from the field — and he tipped in his own shot on the last of those misses with 54 seconds to play.

The party 24 years in the making started early, with fans arriving at Jurassic Park outside the arena in the morning. There were lengthy lines at the arena entrances hours before the game, with some of the few fans who weren’t wearing Raptors red sticking to their original purple uniform with the dinosaur logo.

The Raptors introduced some of their former players after the first quarter, a group that included perennial All-Stars such as Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh.

But it wasn’t until they went out and got Leonard in a trade with San Antonio that Toronto was finally good enough to get to the NBA Finals.

He wasn’t the dominant force he was in the first three rounds, when he averaged 31.2 points. But he had eight rebounds and five assists in his first NBA Finals game since winning MVP of the 2014 championship with the Spurs.

DeMarcus Cousins made it back from a torn left quadriceps to come off the bench in his first NBA Finals game, but the Warriors remained without Kevin Durant, the MVP of the last two NBA Finals. He traveled to Toronto but it’s unclear if he’ll play before the series returns to the Bay Area, with coach Steve Kerr saying he would have to go through a practice first.

The Warriors had won every game since he got hurt in the second round but sure missed him against the Raptors, who are on a roll after falling behind 2-0 to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> TORONTO — Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-high 32 points and the Toronto Raptors won the first NBA Finals game played outside the U.S., beating the Golden State Warriors 118-109 on Thursday night.

The Raptors hardly looked like newcomers to the NBA's biggest stage, controlling the action most of the way against a Golden State team beginning its fifth straight NBA Finals appearance.

Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Raptors, fueled by a crowd that couldn't wait for a party 24 years in the making.

"I think they were into it and that's the way it should be, man," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "That's what home court is, and our fans deserve a bunch of credit for being a big part of that."

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, who had won all four Game 1s in the last four years. All those had come at home, but this time Golden State doesn't have home-court — or home country — advantage.

Game 2 is Sunday night in Toronto, which is hosting an NBA Finals game for the first time after the Raptors entered the league as an expansion team in 1995.

The Raptors were perhaps a little jittery at the start, with Kyle Lowry firing a pass well out of bounds on their first possession.

But they quickly settled in afterward, building a 10-point lead by halftime.

Siakam then went 6 for 6 in the third quarter to keep Golden State from gaining much ground, and the Raptors kept their lead around double digits for much of the final quarter, countering every attempt the Warriors made to catch up.

"I thought we made a good effort in the second half, got back in the game. Our guys did some good things, but made too many mistakes to actually go ahead and win the game," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

All four of the Warriors' previous finals were against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they struggled to figure out a new opponent. Toronto shot 50.6 percent from the field and the Warriors never found an answer for Siakam, the finalist for Most Improved Player who has a nice start for an NBA Finals MVP resume.

The player nicknamed Spicy P was red hot, shooting 14 for 17 from the field — and he tipped in his own shot on the last of those misses with 54 seconds to play.

Fans began arriving at Jurassic Park outside the arena in the morning. There were lengthy lines at the arena entrances hours before the game, with some of the few fans who weren't wearing Raptors red sticking to their original purple uniform with the dinosaur logo.

Rapper and Raptors global ambassador Drake sat in his courtside seat wearing a Curry No. 30 jersey. That's Dell Curry, Stephen's father who finished his career with the Raptors.

The Raptors introduced Dell Curry and some of their other former players after the first quarter, a group that included perennial All-Stars such as Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh.

But it wasn't until they went out and got Leonard in a trade with San Antonio that Toronto was finally good enough to get to the NBA Finals.

He wasn't the dominant force he was in the first three rounds, when he averaged 31.2 points. But he had eight rebounds and five assists in his first NBA Finals game since winning MVP of the 2014 championship with the Spurs.

DeMarcus Cousins made it back from a torn left quadriceps to come off the bench in his first NBA Finals game, but the Warriors remained without Kevin Durant, the MVP of the last two NBA Finals. He traveled to Toronto but it's unclear if he'll play before the series returns to the Bay Area, with Kerr saying he would have to go through a practice first.

The Warriors had won every game since he got hurt in the second round but sure missed him against the Raptors, who are on a roll after falling behind 2-0 to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals. </s> The 2019 NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors will be historic in several ways.

Toronto is making its NBA Finals debut, and it will be the first time the league’s championship series will feature games played outside of the United States. Golden State has reached the Finals for the fifth consecutive season, a feat accomplished only by the Boston Celtics, who went to 10 Finals in a row from 1957-66.

Game 1 is tonight at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (9 p.m., ABC).

The Warriors, the top seed in the Western Conference, can become only the third franchise to win three consecutive titles in the past 50 years (the others are the Bulls from 1991-93 and 1996-98 and the Lakers from 2000-02). Golden State has won the title in three of the past four seasons.

The Warriors have won six NBA Championships, tied with the Bulls for third place all-time, behind the Celtics (17) and Lakers (16).

The Raptors, who finished second in the Eastern Conference but defeated top-seeded Milwaukee in six games in the conference finals, have won at least 50 games in each of the past four seasons and swept the two-game season series from the Warriors for the first time in 17 years.

Warriors star Kevin Durant will miss Game 1 due to the calf injury that has idled him the past five games (Golden State is 5-0 without him). DeMarcus Cousins (torn quad) is listed as questionable.

Kawhi Leonard is averaging 31.2 points per game in the playoffs for Toronto. Stephen Curry is averaging 27.3 points for Golden State.

Join the conversation in the comments </s> While growing up in Douala, Cameroon, Pascal Siakam barely watched the NBA. But he took up basketball, he wrote back in 2016 for The Players’ Tribune, because his father dreamed for one of his sons to reach the NBA.

But Tchamo Siakam never got to see his son reach the top level of the sport, dying from injuries he sustained in a car accident in 2014. The younger Siakam, then living in the United States, missed his father’s funeral at the urging of his mother, Victoire. Her reasoning: His father would have wanted him to keep playing.

Siakam, 25, has done that ever since, and he has taken to writing “RIP Dad” on his shoes during playoff games for the Toronto Raptors.

On Thursday, Siakam made history by leading the Raptors to their first win in the NBA Finals, 118-109, over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 in the best-of-seven series. He did it all, finishing with a team-high 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting, with eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and two blocks.

“I’m just doing it for my dad,” Siakam said to ESPN’s Doris Burke on the court at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Back when he was 18, Siakam said, he would have thought someone was crazy to suggest he could do this.

“At that time I didn’t even know if I really dreamed of being at this level,” he said. “I couldn’t even think about this moment because it wasn’t reachable for me.

“But I think once I got to the point where I felt like I had a chance, I put everything forward and I just worked really hard. … I think that when I was 18 years old I didn’t think of it, but once I got to believing that it was possible, I put everything that I had to be at this level.”

While living in Cameroon, Siakam won notice playing at Luc Mbah a Moute’s camp in 2012, and he was invited to attend Basketball Without Borders. With his performance, he had the opportunity to play at an American prep school, and Siakam moved to Lewisville, Texas, attending God’s Academy and living with a host family.

By this point, all three of Siakam’s older brothers were either playing or had finished playing college basketball in the United States: Boris at Western Kentucky University from 2004-2008, James (Vanderbilt University from 2011-15) and Christian (Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis from 2008-12).

Siakam became the fourth, enrolling at New Mexico State University in 2013. But the following year, tragedy struck when his dad died. Starting then, Siakam was playing for him — and to keep the NBA dream alive.

The Raptors drafted Siakam in the first round as the 27th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. His third season has been a breakout year, with him averaging 16.9 points per game in the regular season and 19.4 points per game in the playoffs.

After Thursday’s game, speaking with reporters, he was asked what his dad would think about how far he has come.

“I think it’s a question that I ask myself every single day, and I know I wish I had the answer,” Siakam said. “I know people always usually tell me that I know he’s proud of you, and I kind of want to hear it from his mouth, and I think it would be really cool.

“But for me, like I always say, man, it’s bigger than basketball, and every night that I go out there, I have a bigger purpose, and I play for something bigger than just basketball. And I think that’s what makes it special, that every night I’m out there, no matter the result, no matter how many points I score, I’m playing for something bigger than myself.” </s> Leonard named Finals MVP; Toronto becomes first team outside U.S. to capture crown

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (2) handles the ball while Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) defends during second half basketball action in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, June 13, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Toronto Raptors are bringing the Larry O’Brien Trophy as NBA champions home to Canada, a brilliant basketball story 24 years in the making.

Kyle Lowry had 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lift the Raptors to a thrilling 114-110 victory over the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors on Thursday in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Raptors in six. Or 6ix. A storybook ending.

“Basketball has come full circle in Canada, invented by a Canadian, the first NBA game was in Toronto and now an NBA championship,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said before presenting the trophy to the Raptors.

Pascal Siakam added 26 points, while Fred VanVleet had 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. Kawhi Leonard, who was named Finals MVP, finished with 22, and Serge Ibaka chipped in with 15.

Klay Thompson had 30 points for the Warriors, who had won three of the past four NBA championships. Andre Iguodala added 22, while Stephen Curry finished with 21.

In what will go down as one of the most exciting games in recent Finals history, Lowry, playing with the sprained left thumb he suffered in Game 7 of the conference semis 12 games earlier, got the Raptors going, staking his team to an early nine-point lead in a thoroughly entertaining first half of breakneck basketball. Three days after connecting on just eight three-pointers in Game 5, the Raptors had nine from deep by the end of the first half Thursday.

Both Lowry and Leonard ran into foul trouble in the third quarter, picking up their fourth fouls. A three-pointer by Andre Iguodala with a minute left in the third put the Warriors up by five — their biggest lead to that point — and ignited the rowdy crowd. Golden State led 88-86 with one quarter to play.

VanVleet had three big three-pointers in the second half: his first tied the game, his second gave Toronto a one-point lead with 7:08 to play, and his third put Toronto up 104-101 with 3:44 to play. VanVleet, looking battered with a bandage under the eye he cut a couple of games earlier, clenched his fists and let out a jubilant yell after the final one.

A Lowry basket made it a six-point Raptors lead with 2:14 to play. But a three-pointer by Draymond Green sparked a Warriors run capped by a DeMarcus Cousins layup that slashed Toronto’s lead to a point with 38 seconds left.

On Toronto’s second-last possession, Leonard was swarmed by Warriors as he finally got a pass off to Danny Green. But Siakam fumbled Green’s pass and it went out of bounds, giving the ball back to Golden State with 9.6 seconds to play. Curry’s three-pointer bounced off the rim, then the Raptors regained possession with 0.9 seconds left after a mad scramble.

Leonard scored on a technical awarded because the Warriors called a timeout when they didn’t have one to take. He connected for two more to clinch Toronto the victory.

After 82 regular-season games, and 24 post-season battles, all leading to this moment, finally the Raptors could celebrate.

“Last summer, man, I was going through a lot,” Leonard said on the live TV broadcast. “And I had a great support system, just kept working hard and had my mindset on this goal right here. I came to a team and a coach with the (same) mindset as mine.”

“I’m going to enjoy this with my teammates and coaches and I’ll think about that later,” Leonard said.

The Raptors had been methodically working since president Masai Ujiri, dreaming of an NBA title, acquired Leonard last summer, and then added Marc Gasol at February’s trade deadline. Leonard has been their emotional gauge, his teammates assuming his mantra of living in the moment. Never too high, never too low.

“This is a strong-minded tough-ass group of guys,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse, almost a year to the day he was promoted to head coach after the firing of Dwane Casey.

The Raptors’ post-season run had seen Toronto trail Orlando 1-0, Philadelphia 2-1, and Milwaukee 2-0. But the level-headed Raptors never allowed doubt to creep in.

The Raptors had missed an opportunity to close out the Finals at home on Monday, losing to the Warriors 106-105 on a night marred by Kevin Durant’s torn Achilles tendon. The Warriors vowed to win for Durant, and when highlights of the 10-time all-star were played on the Jumbotron, the arena erupted in chants of “K-D!”

READ MORE: ‘Canada is sorry’: Raptors fan sends Kevin Durant flowers to apologize for cheering injury

The already short-handed Warriors lost Thompson in the third quarter Thursday after his left leg buckled underneath him when he came down from a dunk. The Warriors’ sharp-shooter was on the ground for several minutes, returned to the game briefly to sink two free throws — Danny Green was whistled for a foul on the play — before heading to the Warriors’ locker-room. He was on crutches soon after.

The Raptors had already won all three previous games — each by double digits — at Oracle this season, including two wins last week in a storied building that Raptors fans have practically turned into their own Jurassic Park — O-Town version.

The Raptors’ historic run to the Finals gave the NBA something new, a fan base that extended beyond the boundaries of just one city, but stretched across an entire country. There’s been a groundswell of support from the Maritimes to Vancouver Island.

Thousands of fans gathered at Jurassic Park outside Scotiabank Arena — like they’ve done all post-season long — and cheered on the Raptors under dark skies and drizzling rain, ponchos pulled up over dripping hair. There were versions of Jurassic Park viewing parties across Canada, including Montreal, which was lovingly dubbed “Jurassic Peel,” and at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, normally home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The pockets of Raptors fans in Oracle Arena could be heard singing along with Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan to “O Canada.” Train’s lead singer Pat Monahan performed the U.S. anthem.

Win or lose, it was bound to be an emotional night for the Warriors, who say goodbye to Oracle Arena, their home since 1967 and a storied building that has seen plenty of glorious victories, before moving across the bay to sparking new Chase Center in San Francisco next season.

“This is sort of a once in a career moment where you play in a building for the very last time,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “Win or lose, we’ll be able to share some emotion and say our goodbyes. But it is a strange, unique night.”

READ MORE: Raptors say they’re simply staying in the moment as Game 6 approaches

The capacity crowd of 19,596 that included baseball’s Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, retired L.A. Lakers star Metta World Peace, and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson marked the 343rd consecutive — and final — Warriors sellout at Oracle.

Lowry scored the Raptors’ first 11 points to propel the Raptors to a quick nine-point lead. An 18-10 run gave the Warriors a brief lead late in the first quarter, and the Raptors led 33-32 to start the second.

Golden State led by two points several times in the second quarter, but the Raptors responded to every Warriors push, and ended the half with a 7-3 run to take a 60-57 advantage into the halftime break.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter </s> The Toronto Raptors are NBA champions for the first time.

The Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The Raptors won the series 4-2, denying the Warriors what would have been a third straight championship.

Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam had 26 points apiece for the Raptors, Fred VanVleet and Kawhi Leonard each had 22 for Toronto.

Klay Thompson scored 30 for Golden State but left with a knee injury. Andre Iguodala scored 22 points and Stephen Curry had 21 for the Warriors. Curry missed a 3-pointer with about 5 seconds left, the Raptors tacked on a free throw off a technical in the last second when the Warriors called a time-out they didn't have, and the last game at Oracle Arena was the last game of Golden State's reign.

A general view of Oracle Arena during the first half of Game 4 of basketball's NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) </s> NBA GAME 6

Resilient Raptors rally past Bucks to reach 1st NBA Finals in franchise history

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share by Email

Toronto closes out series with comeback win on home court

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard hoists the trophy after the Raptors won the Eastern Conference Final in Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks in Toronto on Saturday. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

The Toronto Raptors are headed to the NBA Finals, a Canadian basketball success story 24 years in the making.

Kawhi Leonard poured in 27 points and hauled down a game-high 17 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a thrilling 100-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that clinched the Eastern Conference finals series 4-2.

Kyle Lowry, playing through the relentless pain of a sprained thumb, had 17 points and eight assists, and grabbed the game ball after the final buzzer sounded on a spectacular comeback.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Raptors became just the sixth team in NBA history to win a conference final after losing the first two games.

"Beating this [Bucks] team four times in a row is almost mind boggling," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

Pascal Siakam chipped in with 18 points, while Fred VanVleet finished with 14.

WATCH | Raptors defeat Bucks in Game 6 to reach NBA Finals:

Show more Kawhi Leonard was magical in Game 6, finishing with 27 points and 17 boards as the Raptors beat the Bucks 100-94 to reach the NBA Finals for the 1st time in franchise history. 2:56

The road doesn't get any easier for Toronto. The defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors await after dispatching the Portland Trail Blazers in four games in the west final almost a week ago. The Finals tip off in Toronto on Thursday.

ADVERTISEMENT

But the Raptors paused for a moment to soak it all in Saturday.

Asked what it means to finally break through after seven seasons of playoff frustration, Lowry say "it means a lot."

"It's taken a long time to get here in my career, 13 years, seven years here," he said, his baseball cap reading "NBA Finals" pulled down over his forehead. "I'm going to savour the moment, but I'm not satisfied. Our goal is to win the NBA championship."

Giannis Antetokounmpo, favoured to win the league MVP after leading the Bucks to a league-best 60-win season — two better than Toronto — had 21 points and 11 boards, while Brook Lopez had 18.

The Raptors got off to a shaky start reminiscent of Game 5, giving up a 17-2 Bucks run that straddled the first and second quarters to trail by 15 points early in the first half.

Toronto closed the third quarter with a 10-0 run capped by three Leonard free throws that sliced the Bucks' advantage to 76-71 with one quarter left to play.

"We all felt like we were still in the game," Leonard said. "We had a little bit of momentum left. We just talked amongst each other once again and said 'Let's go out here and enjoy it, and we can play better offence and defence. We ended up doing that, and we ended up winning the game."

WATCH | Kawhi Leonard discusses his journey with Raptors:

Show more After advancing to the NBA finals, Leonard touched on the importance of the Raptors system and how Kyle Lowry helped push him forward. 0:51

The Raptors continued to ride a massive wave of momentum — a 26-3 run punctuated by a massive Leonard dunk from a steal and hand-off from Lowry with 6:46 to play that prompted a roar from the crowd that rocked Scotiabank Arena. The fans didn't sit down again until the game's final buzzer blew.

"We were on a run, and the building exploded after that dunk," said Leonard, the gleaming Eastern Conference trophy sitting between him and Lowry in the post-game press conference. "Kind of got us a little bit more adrenalin to get another stop. I've been playing with [Lowry] for awhile now, and it's just chemistry right there."

The Bucks pulled to within a point with just over five minutes to play, but three-pointers by Marc Gasol and Leonard — Leonard's bouncing up off the rim before falling, in similar fashion to his conference semifinal Game 7 buzzer-beater against Philadelphia — had Toronto up by five with 3:04 to play.

Leonard, who missed all but nine games last season with San Antonio because of a serious quadriceps injury, was breathing heavily, hands on knees, after missing a dunk that Siakam tipped in with 2:06 to play.

A pair of free throws from Lopez made it a three-point game with 29.6 seconds to play, then Siakam was fouled with seven seconds left. The Cameroon big man sank one. Then Leonard was fouled with 3.9 seconds left, and with the crowd chanting "M-V-P!" Toronto's superstar sank both. Game over. Lowry could barely contain his emotions as the final seconds ticked down.

Masai Ujiri, who acquired Leonard in the off-season for much-loved DeMar DeRozan with a lofty goal of an NBA championship in mind, addressed the delirious, confetti-covered crowd after the game, saying "We came all this way to win in Toronto. And we will win in Toronto!"

The Raptors president called Leonard the league's best player.

"I don't care about being the best player, I want to be the best team," Leonard said in response. "Just before the season when we made the trade Masai felt that way about me. He told me how he felt. It's turning out well now. We're in the Finals and we're not done yet."

The Raptors were making just their second Eastern Conference finals appearance in franchise history, and first since they stole two games off LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers before being ousted in six games in 2016.

Ujiri's rebuild included firing coach Dwane Casey and promoting Nurse, then swapping Jonas Valanciunas for Gasol at February's trade deadline.

If fans complained then, they aren't now.

"We've got great fans," Lowry said. "They support us through the good times and the bad times. Right now is a great time, and we're glad that they're our fans." </s> TORONTO — Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-high 32 points and the Toronto Raptors won the first NBA Finals game played outside the U.S., beating the Golden State Warriors 118-109 on Thursday night.

The Raptors hardly looked like newcomers to the NBA's biggest stage, controlling the action most of the way against a Golden State team beginning its fifth straight NBA Finals appearance.

Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Raptors.

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, who had won all four Game 1s in the last four years. All those had come at home, but this time Golden State doesn't have home-court advantage.
The Toronto Raptors host the first National Basketball Association (NBA) finals game in their franchise history, against the Golden State Warriors, and the first outside the United States in NBA history at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The Raptors win 118–109.