OAKLAND, Calif. — As it happened, the Raptors were more rattled by Kevin Durant’s catastrophic Achilles injury than the Warriors with the NBA championship on the line.
After Durant went down early in the second quarter Monday night, Golden State extended its lead from five to 12 and eventually held on for a 106-105 victory in Game 5 to extend The Finals. Game 6 is at Oracle Arena on Thursday with the Raptors up 3-2.
The Raptors’ golden chance of winning the franchise’s first title and sending Canada into a frenzy could have evaporated when they didn’t show the killer instinct needed to polish off the two-time defending champions with the courageous hearts.
The Raptors were not too proud to admit Durant’s horrible injury, which could keep him out all of next season, had an effect on their psyche. Durant was terrific in the first quarter when he scored 11 points, but Toronto couldn’t capitalize when he left.
“It’s a small brotherhood and we don’t want to ever see any of our fellow brothers go down,’’ said the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, who signaled for the Scotiabank Arena crowd to quiet down when it started applauding after Durant crashed to the court. “We don’t want anything to ever happen like that.’’
Raptors coach Nick Nurse acknowledged the negative effect on his team. He said Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson came over to their bench after halftime to inform Lowry that Durant had “torn something.’’
“It’s almost shocking,’’ Nurse said. “Some of our guys on our bench were really shook up. [Lowry] was shook up by that. I think it’s always a little eerie feeling for everybody when something like that happens on a big stage like this.”
While Drake consoled Durant as he hobbled off the court, the Canadian rapper and Raptors superfan was seen muttering angrily to a friend as they left the arena.
“It’s hard to wrap your mind around it,’’ said the usually unflappable Kawhi Leonard, who played raggedly for the first three quarters (9-for-24, five turnovers), about Durant’s devastating injury. “They played great tonight in the last three quarters after KD exited.’’
The Warriors led most of the contest until Leonard got hot midway through the fourth quarter and scored 10 straight points to put Toronto up six with 3:05 left. NBA officials started covering the Raptors’ locker room with plastic and the championship trophy was on the move.
But the Warriors rallied back behind Curry and Thompson’s perimeter greatness with a 9-0 run after a curious timeout by Nurse that served to zap the Raptors’ momentum. The Warriors finished with 20 3-pointers while the Raptors were ice cold (8 of 32 from 3).
After midnight, following Warriors GM Bob Myers’ tearful press conference in which he revealed the fear of a Durant Achilles tear, Curry came into the interview room nearly as somber.
“Everybody gets so wrapped up in chasing championships and the greatness that you see on the floor but life is more important in terms of caring about an individual and what they’re going through,’’ Curry said. “It’s going to be a rough go in terms of just trying to recalibrate.’’
Thompson and Curry, who combined for 57 points, each said it was impossible to celebrate the victory afterward.
“We’ll do it for K,’’ Thompson said. “He wants us to keep at the highest level and we’ll think of him every time we step on the hardwood. You think of him every time you dive for a loose ball or go for a rebound because I know him and know how bad he wants to be out there.
“Our goal was to get [the Raptors] back on a plane, get them back to Oakland,’’ Thompson said. “We owe our fans one more game in Oracle.’’