The Golden State Warriors relied on a champion’s heart to overcome their weary bodies.
Klay Thompson on Sunday scored 25 points before leaving with a hamstring injury and Stephen Curry had 23 as the Warriors ran off the first 18 points of the second half on the way to a 109-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors that tied the NBA Finals at 1-1.
With Kevin Durant already out and Thompson eventually joining him in the fourth quarter, the Warriors do not feel great — but they would have felt a whole lot worse flying home in a 2-0 hole.
Photo: AP
“I think that when you get to this stage, our DNA shows up,” Curry said.
Andre Iguodala, himself slow to get up after a hard fall in the first half, made the clinching three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left after the Raptors scored 10 straight points to cut it to 106-104.
Kawhi Leonard had 34 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors.
They had won five straight since falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Curry appeared to be laboring as well in the first half, returning to the locker room in the midst of six straight misses to start the game, but the Warriors cobbled together a good enough finish to the second quarter to keep it close, then stormed out of the locker room with one of their vintage third-quarter charges that have been so frequent during their run to five straight NBA Finals.
“Third quarter we didn’t play well enough. We missed too many shots,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said. “They got out in transition and got a little confidence going. We lost the game there.”
DeMarcus Cousins was inserted into the starting lineup and delivered 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Draymond Green had 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists — missing by one assist a fourth straight triple-double.
The series moves to their Oracle Arena for Game 3 and Game 4, with the first NBA Finals to be played outside the US assured of returning to Canada for Game 5.
The Warriors will hope to have enough healthy bodies to get through it.
Thompson landed awkwardly after a three-point attempt early in the fourth quarter and limped off soon after, with backup center Kevon Looney already missing the second half with an injury.
Golden State are also still without Durant, who missed his seventh straight game with a strained right calf, but hopes to return during the series.
For now, they got key contributions from Quinn Cook, who hit three three-pointers, and veteran center Andrew Bogut, who was not even part of the roster most of the season, but came off the bench for three baskets.
“It was a great win. We got to go home and protect our home floor, and we’ll see about all the injuries, but I’m very proud of our team and in particular all the guys off the bench,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Kerr said Thompson told him that he thought his injury was minor and he would be fine, but added that “Klay could be half dead and he would say he would be fine.”
Kerr was unsure the nature of Looney’s injury.
Fred VanVleet scored 17 points for the Raptors, who had red T-shirts with their slogan “We The North” hanging on seats around the arena.
The Warriors sure were seeing red, especially Curry, during a mostly miserable first half when they missed 20 of their first 28 shots.
He hung his head and did not even attempt to run back when VanVleet stole the ball from him and made a layup to give Toronto an 11-point lead with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the half.
However, Curry made two free throws for the final points of the half to cut it to 59-54, then the Warriors came back and pitched a shutout until nearly the midpoint of the third quarter during a series-changing — perhaps season-changing — swing.
Iguodala had five quick points including a three-pointer that moved Golden State into the lead at 61-59.
The surge continued with three straight baskets from Thompson and three more from Green, whose last one capped the 18-0 run that was the longest to start a half in NBA Finals history and made it 72-59 before Toronto finally got on the board with a three-pointer from VanVleet with 6:20 remaining in the period.
“They moved the ball really well and were running freely,” Raptors center Marc Gasol said. “Once they run freely, everything opens up for them.”
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