Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard insists he relishes Golden State Warriors double teams
Watch Warriors @ Raptors Game 2 in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
Monday 3 June 2019 00:04, UK
Kawhi Leonard knows the Golden State Warriors will throw another massive share of double teams at him in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, but the Toronto forward is happy for the attention if it helps the team.
Live NBA: Golden State @ Toronto
"I come into the game just trying to win," the three-time NBA All-Star told reporters on Saturday.
"If I have my mindset on just trying to score the ball, yeah, it could be difficult. But I'm trying to make the right play out there, and obviously if there are two people on me, somebody is open.
"I could create a collapse situation. It's really not about me. If they play defense like that, guys are going to step up and make shots. All I could do is keep making the right play. When I do get a free look, make my shots and go back on the other end and play defense."
That somebody in Game 1 on Thursday was Cameroonian Pascal Siakam, who burned Golden State for a playoff career high 32 points.
The result? Toronto, a big underdog, claimed a 118-109 win over Golden State in the first NBA Finals game played outside of the United States.
Ice hockey-loving Canada suddenly had a new sport to cheer for, and Leonard, a newcomer with the Raptors after six seasons in San Antonio, could not have been prouder.
"Coming in, I wanted to be able to contribute to the team and be able to get them to this point, and we're doing it so far," the Raptors' leading scorer said.
"I just feel like I did something special for them, just this group, just being able to be the first team to get to the NBA Finals for Toronto."
And the fans have responded.
"Everyone out here they love, not just me," he said. "If you walk through the city or if I'm with one of my team-mates, they show them a lot of love as well."
His playoff average, now 30.7 points, may have taken a hit after the Warriors held him to 23 points on Thursday but there has been no dip in his popularity.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse was impressed with the coverage on Leonard.
"They were in a coverage (on Thursday) I had never seen before, which was a switch to a late blitz," Nurse said on Saturday. "They do a lot of innovative stuff. So I would say that they probably got other things we haven't seen that we're going to have to adjust to on the fly. I'm probably never surprised that he gets blitzed as much as he does."
The Raptors will need that support when they face high scoring Golden State point guard Stephen Curry one more time in Toronto before the series shifts to California.
"I call him a transformational player," Nurse said of Curry.
"He's got kids all over the world shooting from 40 feet away. I think even as you've seen the three-point shot become so rapidly used in the last three or four years, a lot of that is because of Golden State and Steph and Klay [Thompson] and some of the other guys."
Curry had 34 points in Game 1.
"He's got an incredible shooting stroke from anywhere," said Nurse. "He's got an incredible handle so when people are chasing him, he just dribbles and dribbles and gets around them and uses all that skill that he has."
By Leonard's reckoning, there is only one way to guard the Warriors standout, who has led them to three NBA titles.
"Chase him as hard as you can," said the two time NBA defensive player of the year.
Meanwhile, a billboard located near Oracle Arena touting Kawhi Leonard, star of the Warriors' finals opponent -- the Toronto Raptors, likely has some East Bay fans riled up.
"The King of the North is coming," reads the text of the billboard, which also includes the crossed-off names of the teams Toronto beat to reach the championship series.
The slogan is a nod to the recently-ended HBO series Game of Thrones and was ordered by shoe company New Balance, which has an endorsement deal with Leonard.
Leonard finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Raptors won Game 1 in Toronto 118-109 on Thursday.
Game 2 takes place in Toronto in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
