The score of Game 6 was 114-110; Steph Curry missed a last second three that would have given the Warriors the lead (the extra points for the Raptors came from a technical against Draymond Green, who called a timeout without having one).
I watched parts of several of the games in this series. It was definitely not played at the same high level as some of the Warriors/Cavs series the past few years, but I particularly enjoyed the efforts of two players: Klay Thompson for Golden State and Fred Vanvleet for Toronto.
Thompson is my favorite kind of athlete: driven, intense, artistic in his athleticism, team-focused, and humble. He is not as soft-spoken as Tim Duncan (or Kawhi Leonard, who won the series MVP), but I love the way that he puts the game first, rather than focusing all the energy on himself. He reminds me of Art Monk -- or perhaps Gary Clark, who was a bit more voluble than Monk, but with a similar seriousness of purpose about the game.
Thompson's shots are graceful in a way that Curry's, for some reason, are not. He makes basketball look effortless, but you just know that there must be hours and hours of practice and diligence that go into it.
Towards the end of last night's game, Thompson injured his knee (a possible torn ACL), which followed a string of injuries to other Warriors.
Fred Vanvleet, on the otherhand, does not have the "effortless" factor. I had forgotten about Vanvleet, who played a leading role on the Wichita State Final Four team. I gather from listening to Bill Simmons that he has really risen to the occasion of this year's playoffs (as his wife gave birth to a son!). He had not been known as a star, but he has been shooting the lights out (five three-pointers in last night's game, for example) and he made a significant contribution to the Raptors' victories over the Magic, the 76ers, the Bucks and now the Warriors.
Late June through mid August becomes the "quiet time" for sports, although I am looking forward to watching the Women's World Cup with the kids. Team USA won its first game 13-0 over Thailand, and I was surprised that the coach allowed the team to run-up the score to that extent -- a thirteen goal differential strikes me as unnecessary/preventable.
