Fred VanVleet insists Toronto Raptors' depth showed in NBA Finals Game 1 victory over Golden State Warriors
Watch Warriors @ Raptors Game 2 in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
Friday 31 May 2019 11:34, UK
Toronto Raptors sixth man Fred VanVleet reckons the team's depth rose to the fore against the Golden State Warriors in the opening game of the NBA Finals.
The Raptors claimed a 118-109 victory at ScotiaBank Arena in the franchise's first-ever championship-round clash.
Star man Kawhi Leonard was limited to shooting just 5-for-14 from the field by the Golden State defense and Pascal Siakam stepped up to lead the Toronto scorers with a career-high 32 points, ably assisted by Marc Gasol (20) and VanVleet who was the top bench scorer with 15 points.
And VanVleet, who went undrafted from Wichita State before joining up with Raptors out of training camp at the beginning of last season, reckons the depth and mix of abilities in the Toronto locker room demonstrated itself in the series opener.
"We know what we're capable of, this roster," he said. "The guys on the bench, the other guys. Obviously we have got one of the best players on the league. We have All-Stars, we have veterans and we have everything.
"It's just a matter of going out there and performing on the highest stage. This is what you work for all year, all summer and now's the time to go out there, let loose and have fun. It's a good win, we'll take but obviously we've got a long way to go."
The city of Toronto has embraced hosting an NBA Finals for the first time and the atmosphere at ScotiaBank Arena was fervent throughout Game 1.
Coach Nick Nurse was pleased with the role the home court advantage played for the Raptors.
The fans obviously were great," he said. "They were loud, they were excited. I think they were into it and that's the way it should be, man. That's what home court is, and our fans deserve a bunch of credit for being a big part of that."
Siakam, coming off the back of his career game, concurred. He said: "From coming out for warm-up to the end of the game, it was just the support and then going crazy. I've never seen anything like that. Just happy to be a part of it."
VanVleet was delighted to get the win and praised Siakam, who is favourite to win the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
Speaking about his Cameroonian teammate, he said: "He's special. He's a handful, he's hard to guard when he's in the open floor. I thought he just did a good job of being physical and getting to the rim, getting a lot of layups and he made his open threes.
"When he's playing with a motor like that he's tough to guard so we'll see how they adjust and we have to be ready for everything in Game 2."
Game 2 takes place in Toronto in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
