2019 NBA Finals

The 2019 NBA Finals was a championship series in the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2018–19 season. Both teams played in a "best-of-seven" series (one team has to win at least four games). This series began on May 30th and ended on June  13th, with the Raptors winning 4-2. The Toronto Raptors won against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. Kawhi Leonard was named the Finals MVP for the second time in his career, after 2014. Both teams had won their conference finals (the Raptors play in the Eastern Conference and the Warriors play in the Western Conference), meaning that they had to face off. This was the first time the Raptors won an NBA Finals and also the first time a Canadian team, and a team outside the United States overall, had won the Finals.

The Warriors played in the NBA Finals again. It was their fifth straight time playing in the Finals, and their last until 2022. This was the first time that the Raptors had ever played in the NBA Finals, just 23 years after they joined the league in 1996.

This was the first Finals since 2010 not to include LeBron James who played in the last eight Finals. Of which, he made four each with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Series summary
GameDateAway TeamResultHome Team Game 1 Thursday, May 30  Golden State Warriors  109–118 (0–1)  Toronto Raptors Game 2 Sunday, June 2  Golden State Warriors 109–104 (1–1)  Toronto Raptors Game 3 Wednesday, June 5  Toronto Raptors  123–109 (2–1)   Golden State Warriors Game 4 Friday, June 7  Toronto Raptors  105–92 (3–1)  Golden State Warriors Game 5 Monday, June 10  Golden State Warriors  106–105 (2–3)  Toronto Raptors Game 6 Thursday, June 13  Toronto Raptors   114–110 (4–2)  Golden State Warriors

Victory parade
On 17 June, the Raptors held a parade in Toronto to celebrate them winning. It began at Princes' Gates in Exhibition Place and ended at Nathan Phillips Square next to the Toronto City Hall. Over two million people came to watch the parade. Because of this, the parade was the largest public gathering in Canadian history. However, because there were so many people, the parade was slowed down by three hours.

References

Other websites

Category:2010s in Toronto
Category:2019 in American sports
Category:Golden State Warriors
Category:Toronto Raptors
Category:2019 in California