Sunday, June 2, 2019

The NBA Finals are over

Just kidding.

I mean, come on, it's only June 2, which means we've got at least another month before the Raptors or Warriors seize control of the series. And we're only on Game 2, which happens tonight in an increasingly delirious Toronto. So there's still time.

Still time, that is, to remember that momentum is a unicorn in the NBA playoffs, and that what happened in one game has no bearing whatsoever -- zero, zip, nada -- on what happens in the next.

In other words: Calm down, Toronto. You're not gonna sweep this deal even though your guys handled the Warriors with unbecoming ease in Game 1.

Some things we know, heading into Game 2:

1. The Raptors can run with the Warriors. And did. And will.

2. They can bother the Warriors defensively with their length and their getting-after-it-ness -- in fact did bother them significantly in Game 1.

3. You can slow down Kawhi Leonard if you rotate, like, eight guys on him, the way the Warriors did in Game 1.

4. But if you do that, you'll get burned for 32 by some guy named Pascal Siakam.

5. Who is not a striker for West Ham United or a Formula One driver for Renault but an athletic forward from Cameroon who runs the floor like nobody's business and will hurt you badly if you rotate eight guys on Kawhi.

So there's what we know.

What don't we know?

What kind of numbers Steph or Klay or Draymond put up when they go off tonight and even the series at one apiece heading west.

Because you know it's going to happen. You just know it.

It's the NBA, after all. Which stands for "Never Believe Anything."

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