kawhi leonard — Home — What’s Cool?

I definitely should’ve waited longer before posting before game 3. Every excruciating camera shot of Klay Thompson sitting anxiously on the bench and his teammates missed open shots, had mindless lapses on defense, and were unable to ever pull ahead of their opposition twisted the knife in me knowing that my prediction for game 3 would end up completely inaccurate, which it did. But that is the unfortunate reality of professional sports: injuries happen. What’s frustrating as a former player and viewer about game 3 is that Stephen Curry not only lead his team in scoring, but in exertion and effort. Diving for loose balls, playing active defense, and making precision passes that lead to high-percentage shots for teammates is exactly what every role-player should have been doing throughout the night at Oracle, but instead, it was as if they accepted defeat far too early. If Klay Thompson doesn’t return for game 4, this series is effectively over in favor of Toronto. The other splash brother is expected to be active tonight, so that is what my prediction for tonight’s game will be based on. If not, I expect a result similar to game 3.

The Raptors won a game that they were supposed to win on Wednesday night. Kawhi Leonard was dominant on both sides of the floor, Danny Green went nuclear and was knocking down what felt like every three-pointer he shot, Serge “I-Block-Ya” Ibaka was ruthless defensively, and Fred VanVleet continued to demonstrate his impressive basketball IQ, as well as making some tough lay-ups and that last ridiculous three-point shot (good lord). Toronto took advantage of the mismatches created from Golden State’s injuries and played at a pace fast enough to tire Golden State, slowing rotations and forcing sluggish offense. The Golden State Warriors are arguably facing their most difficult matchup of the playoffs so far in these finals having to deal with the depth of Toronto while managing so many injuries. This is a very winnable series for the Raptors, and if tonight goes in Toronto’s favor, it will likely end in game 5 barring a miracle return from Kevin Durant.

The Warriors are champions with a level-headed and rational mentality only rivaled by the robotic and machine-like stability provided by Kawhi, The Klaw. If Klay Thompson is able to go tonight, I expect the Warriors to regain some confidence as their talent depth increases, leading to a much-needed victory in game 4 this evening. If not, Toronto takes this one with ease. We shall see - hopefully I’m not blindsided by an inactive listing again.

Prediction: GSW 111, TOR 107