The Toronto Raptors marked their NBA Finals debut with a convincing 118-109 victory over defending champions the Golden State Warriors.
Pascal Siakam recorded 32 points, five assists and eight rebounds at Scotiabank Arena to help power the Raptors to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The highly anticipated game – the first NBA Finals match played outside the United States – saw Toronto dominate from the off, notching up a 10-point lead by half-time on the back of a 19-8 run.
Tonight's Winning Numbers presented by @OLGproline. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/MtSLFWnMrx — Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) May 31, 2019
The Warriors pushed hard to pull back into contention, closing the gap to three early in the fourth quarter, but Siakam hit an 11th consecutive field goal attempt to keep Toronto in the driving seat.
The side remained at least seven points ahead until the final buzzer.
Kawhi Leonard racked up 23 points and Marc Gasol added 20 as the Raptors refused to be intimidated by a team beginning their fifth straight appearance in the NBA Finals.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 34 points – his sixth playoff game in a row with 30 points or more – and became the first player ever to score 100 three-point field goals in the NBA Finals.
Final 📊 Steph: 34p/5r/5a/1sKlay: 21p/5r/1aDraymond: 10p/10r/10a/1sKevon: 9p/3r/1a/1sAndre: 6p/7a/6r/1bShaun: 6p/4r/1a/1s/1bAlfonzo: 6p/1rQuinn: 6p/1aJonas: 6p/1rDeMarcus: 3p/2a/2sJordan: 2p/3r/1a pic.twitter.com/H8IFMqffZT — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 31, 2019
Klay Thompson finished on 21 points, while Draymond Green had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
Game two of the series will take place in Toronto on Sunday.
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'd109f11d-cbb6-4935-ace8-3745eb8938aa');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:basketball,sport:other');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Toronto Raptors claim game one victory in NBA Finals debut'});
