This is not what the Toronto Raptors fans wanted to hear.
With their team heading home for Game 5 of the NBA Finals tonight, needing just one more win to secure the team’s first ever Larry O’Brien Trophy, it sounds like they’re about to face a new challenge: stopping Kevin Durant.
Durant has yet to play a game since injuring his calf in the Warriors’ second-round series against the Houston Rockets. But Durant practiced with the team for the first time in a while over the weekend, and now ESPN’s Jay Williams, who had dinner with KD last night, is saying he’s he “shocked” if Durant wasn’t in the lineup tonight for Golden State.
The Raptors have dominated the series thus far, including an impressive two-game sweep at Oracle Arena to put them ahead in the series, 3-1. KD could change things quite a bit, however. If he’s even remotely healthy, he’ll give the Raptors’ suffocating defense another shooter to worry about, which could help give other guys like Curry and Thompson more room to work out on the court.
Either way, you know the Warriors wouldn’t go down without a fight. And it sounds like they’re gearing up to give the Raps their biggest fight yet in Game 5.
Will it make a difference? Or with the Raptors continue to dominate en route to their first NBA title. We’ll find out the answer tonight.
