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> 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> NBA Finals Head To Canada As Raptors Take On Golden State Warriors

For the first time, the NBA Finals will be played in Canada. The Toronto Raptors host the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Toronto Star sports columnist Bruce Arthur.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Tonight, for the first time ever, the NBA finals are in Canada. The Toronto Raptors host the Golden State Warriors for Game 1. The Warriors are the two-time defending champions, but we're going to focus on the Raptors because while, yeah, lots of Raptors fans are just happy to have made it this far, Toronto has arguably the best player in the world in Kawhi Leonard. So can Leonard carry them all the way to the title? Even if he doesn't, has basketball in Canada already won? For that, we turn to Bruce Arthur, sports columnist for the Toronto Star. Welcome to the program.

BRUCE ARTHUR: Thank you, Audie.

CORNISH: So we'll get to Kawhi Leonard in a moment, but first, we know that Toronto has had, like, several years of good but not great teams. Can you talk about how people are talking about this? I don't know what the energy is like in the city.

ARTHUR: The level of interest and excitement has never been higher than this - never. And this is a franchise with two and a half decades, almost, of failure. And even when the team was good, the seasons tended to end in humiliation. LeBron James was a big part of that. This is something that I don't think we've ever seen in the city before. You walk around the city now, and you hear people talking about the Raptors. You can hear the sound of the celebration if you're in one of the condo towers downtown, if you stand out on your balcony. They've finally captured the city, and I don't think this team has ever truly done that before.

CORNISH: Now, Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto before the season, right? And it was seen as a big gamble because Leonard, you know, is a free agent next year. He might be eyeing a team in Southern California, where he's from. Is there a sense that this is kind of now or never, in terms of winning a title?

ARTHUR: There probably should be because the funny thing is, for most players, for most people, you might be able to look at this and say, all this success, the way that the city has embraced him and the team, all of these good things would naturally lead to Kawhi Leonard being more inclined to re-sign in Toronto. And we just don't know that that's the case because he's a famously kind of opaque individual. Nobody knows what Kawhi Leonard is thinking, except Kawhi Leonard, about what he really wants in life and in basketball. The team's really good; that might not be enough.

CORNISH: People are talking about him as being one of the greats, right? You're hearing, like, a Michael Jordan comparison being thrown around. Can he really carry the team to a title against the Warriors, though?

ARTHUR: Not alone, I don't think so. The one thing about this Raptors team that people do underrate is that, defensively, this Raptors team is as good as anybody in basketball right now. It's a team with versatility, intelligence, a ferocity, defensively. But to beat the Golden State Warriors, they're going to need more guys to make shots offensively. Kawhi Leonard is great. You need more than one great player to win in any playoff series, much less against a championship outfit like the Warriors.

CORNISH: The NBA has pushed for expansion north for decades. But is the rest of Canada at all interested in this? I mean, is this Canada's team?

ARTHUR: Well, you say this as someone who is from Vancouver, who was a Vancouver Grizzlies partial season ticket holder and then watched them leave. As a Toronto...

CORNISH: So biased (laughter).

ARTHUR: Yeah. Toronto and Canada are two separate things. We've got, I think, about 7 million within the general area of Toronto out of about 35 or 36 million people in the country. It's the mega city, and it's different ethnically, culturally, financially, than the rest of Canada, and basketball is a part of that. The fault line does run along those lines in that it is very much a Toronto team. But this is the first time I feel like - and it's still anecdotal. You can tell a little bit from television ratings. But the team seems to be crossing into the bloodstream of the rest of the country, and this is, I think, what happens when you win, when you make it into a cultural curiosity in addition to being a sporting curiosity.

CORNISH: And does it help to have someone like Drake courtside (laughter)?

ARTHUR: I think for some people it does. I think the power of celebrity is something that is immensely powerful. And he's someone that just adds to the level of attention that's happening here. This is going to be the first championship series for a major sport in Canada in the Internet era, and every bit of notoriety helps, and Drake is a part of that.

CORNISH: Bruce Arthur, sports columnist for the Toronto Star. Thank you for talking about the Raptors with us, and best of luck.

ARTHUR: Absolutely. My pleasure. Thank you.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. </s> Thousands took to the streets in Toronto to celebrate their home team winning the NBA title, and belt out their national anthem in pride on Monday.

Carrying flags and donning Raptors gear, the crowd came together to sing “O, Canada!” en masse.

The Toronto Raptors won four out of six games against the Golden State Warriors to capture the franchise’s first NBA championship, winning the final game against the Bay Area team 114-110 last Thursday night.

The NBA reported Friday that 56% of the Canadian population watched at least some part of the NBA Finals, with an average viewership of 8 million for title-winning victory in Game 6.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also joined in on the festivities, shaking hands and taking pictures with fellow fans.

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com </s> 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.

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WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
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"We the North!" is now "We the Champs!"

Leonard and the Toronto Raptors captured the country's first major title in 26 years with their most remarkable road win yet in the franchise's NBA Finals debut, outlasting the battered and depleted two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors 114-110 on Thursday night in a Game 6 for the ages.

"I wanted to make history here. That's what I did," a soaking wet Leonard said, ski goggles perched on his forehead and sporting a fresh black champions hat.

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)

Stephen Curry missed a contested 3-pointer in the waning moments before Golden State called a timeout it didn't have, giving Leonard a technical free throw with 0.9 seconds left to seal it. Leonard, the NBA Finals MVP for a second time, then got behind Andre Iguodala for a layup as the buzzer sounded, but it went to review and the basket was called off before Leonard's two free throws. That only delayed the celebration for a moment.

When it actually ended, the typically stoic Leonard could let it all out. A Canadian team — and we're not talking hockey here — stood on top of one of the traditional major sports leagues for the first time since the Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series.

Serge Ibaka pulled his head up through the hoop by the Golden State bench as the crowd chanted "Warriors! Warriors!" after a sensational send-off at Oracle Arena.

Curry walked away slowly, hands on his head on a night Splash Brother Klay Thompson suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and departed with 30 points.

Fred VanVleet rescued the Raptors down the stretch with his dazzling shooting from deep to score 22 points with five 3s off the bench, while Leonard wound up with 22 points. Kyle Lowry scored the game's first eight points and finished with 26 in all to go with 10 assists and seven rebounds.

Fans poured into the streets in Toronto, screaming and honking horns after the Raptors pulled off a third straight win on Golden State's home floor that said goodbye to NBA basketball after 47 seasons. And the Raptors did it with the very kind of depth that helped define Golden State's transformation into a dynasty the past five seasons.

This time, the Warriors were wounded.

Golden State already was down two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who had surgery Wednesday for a ruptured right Achilles tendon. Then, the Warriors lost Thompson — and they couldn't overcome just one more heartbreaking injury.

"A lot of bad breaks in the finals, to be honest," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "Like us, they kept on playing. We just had to keep on playing no matter who was out there. And I think they were super intense high-level games and both teams desperately trying to win."

This thrilling back-and-forth game featured 18 lead changes, nine ties and neither team going ahead by more than nine points.

Curry scored 21 points but shot just 6 for 17 and went 3 of 11 on 3s. Iguodala added 22 for his biggest game this postseason as the Warriors did everything until the very last moment to leave a lasting legacy at Oracle.

Thompson provided his own dramatic memory. He injured his knee when fouled by Danny Green on a drive at the 2:22 mark of the third, was helped off the court and walked partially down a tunnel toward the locker room, then — shockingly — re-emerged to shoot his free throws before going out again at 2:19. He didn't return and left the arena on crutches, and the Warriors announced that an MRI had confirmed the torn ACL.

"More than the what-ifs is just feeling bad for the players involved. Injuries are always part of the NBA season — any professional sport, injuries play a huge role," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It's just the nature of these injuries, the severity of these injuries. And we'll know more about Klay. But we can sit here and say, well, if this hadn't happened or that hadn't happened, that doesn't matter. What matters is Kevin Durant is going to miss next season with an Achilles tear and Klay suffered a knee injury."

In their best Bay Area version of Jurassic Park — Toronto's jam-packed gathering spot to cheer the Raptors — hundreds of red-clad fans stayed long after the game ended to watch the Larry O'Brien trophy ceremony. They waved the Maple Leaf and sang "O Canada" just as they did here after winning previously this series.

Lowry's hot start was almost fitting. It was the Toronto guard who got shoved on the sideline in Game 3 by Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens, now banned by the league and team for a year.

The Raptors, in their 24th season of existence, rallied from two games down to beat the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals then took down the mighty Warriors on their home floor to deny Golden State a three-peat.

The Raptors went 8 for 32 on 3s in a 106-105 Game 5 defeat as the Warriors staved off elimination Monday in Toronto. They started 5 of 6 from long range in this one and finished 13 of 33 and converted 23 of 29 free throws.

Curry and these Warriors never, ever count themselves out. Yet down 3-1 in their fifth straight NBA Finals, they didn't have the health it took to win the past two titles and three of the past four against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"This five-year run's been awesome but I definitely don't think it's over," Curry said.

Raptors: Leonard scored 732 points this postseason and on Thursday passed Allen Iverson (723) for fourth place and Hakeem Olajuwon (725) for third on the NBA's single-postseason scoring list. James is second with 748 accomplished last year behind Michael Jordan's 759 points in 1992. ... Toronto 9-16 all-time at Oracle Arena but 4-0 overall this season.

Warriors: Thompson's 374 career postseason 3s passed James (370) for third place on the career playoff list, trailing only Curry (470) and Ray Allen (385). ... Thompson notched his second 30-point performance this postseason, 13th of his career and fourth in a finals game despite not playing the entire fourth quarter.

A gold rally towel read FOR OAK on one line and LAND on the next with the K and D lined up in white — a clever way to also pay tribute to Durant with his initials "KD."

Kerr narrated a pregame tribute to Oracle's legacy on the big screen.

In the 2,070th game at Oracle, the Warriors sold out their 343rd consecutive game and said farewell at last to the place they called home nearly five decades. Now, Golden State will move its games, practices and day-to-day operations to new Chase Center in San Francisco beginning next season. </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> 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> OAKLAND: The Toronto Raptors became the first Canadian team to win an NBA title with a 114-110 victory over the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors on Thursday (Jun 13) that set off a country-wide celebration.

The victory gave the Raptors a 4-2 series win and denied the Warriors a fourth NBA championship in five years.

Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam each scored 26 points while Kawhi Leonard and reserve Fred VanVleet each added 22 as the Raptors claimed their historic win.

When the final buzzer sounded, jubilant Raptors fans flooded the streets of downtown Toronto for a night of celebration not seen in the city since Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays last won a World Series title in 1993.

Depite playing against a more playoff-seasoned opponent, the Raptors proved unflappable throughout the series and whenever the Warriors looked set to seize momentum Toronto would use some smart passes and precise shooting to maintain control.

Klay Thompson scored 30 points to lead the Warriors but left the game with a left knee injury late in the third quarter after landing awkwardly on his left leg.

Injury-hit Golden State was already without two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant, who returned in game five Monday after being sidelined for a month only to suffer a ruptured right Achilles tendon.

Andre Iguodala added 22 points for the Warriors, Stephen Curry had 21 and Draymond Green contributed 11 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists.

Golden State had a final shot to win trailing 111-110 but Curry missed a 3-pointer and Green called a timeout when the team had none, setting up three final free throws by Leonard to seal the victory.

Leonard was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career after the first in 2014 with San Antonio.

The Raptors spoiled the Warriors’ farewell appearance at Oracle Arena. Golden State’s home since 1971 will be replaced by a new US$1 billion venue in San Francisco next season. – AFP
In basketball, the Toronto Raptors defeat the Golden State Warriors four games to two to win their first NBA championship. The Toronto Raptors are also the first NBA team outside of the United States and the first from Canada to win the NBA Finals.