On Wednesday, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 123-109 to take a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals. Kawhi Leonard had a huge game with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, doing a little bit of everything to help the Raptors get the win. As for Stephen Curry, he was sensational on the other side for the Warriors, scoring a playoff career-high 47 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. The problem for him was he didn't get enough help as Klay Thompson (hamstring), Kevin Durant (calf), and Kevon Looney (collar bone) were all out.
I said on Tuesday that the Warriors would be hard pressed to win without Thompson and that certainly proved to be the case in Game 3. Basketball is a team sport and when you lose enough guys, it's tough for any team to win. Even if they have a guy as good as Curry on their team.
At this point in time, the Raptors are in the driver's seat to win this series. They've stolen home court advantage right back, putting all the pressure on the Warriors to win Game 4 on Friday. By extension, there's a ton of pressure on the Warriors to get Thompson back. Without him, I don't see them winning another game in this series.
On that note, Steve Kerr sounded optimistic that Thompson would play on Friday in his post-game comments while sounding much less sure about Durant. If I had to guess, I would say Thompson plays on Friday while Durant will once again be inactive. Odds are starting to look good that Durant won't play at all in this series and that the Warriors have known this the whole time.
Assuming Thompson is a go on Friday, the Warriors still have a chance to win this series, but the odds are not in their favor. The Raptors have the advantage now and need to make sure they shut the door on the Warriors while they can do it.
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