Kawhi 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
