Live updates: DeMarcus Cousins gets the start, as Warriors look to even series - The Washington Post

Can Stephen Curry lead the Warriors back in Game 2? (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

By Washington Post Staff

June 2 at 8:23 PM

Can the Raptors do it again in Game 2 and beat the Warriors in front of another raucous home crowd? Follow our live updates throughout Sunday’s game.

First quarter:

For the Raptors, a good early sign: Kawhi Leonard got off to a strong start on offense, scoring the team’s first five points. For the Warriors, a better sign: Klay Thompson, who by his standards was somewhat quiet with 21 points in Game 1, countered with the first nine points for Golden State.

DeMarcus Cousins, who returned from injury in Game 1 to score three points in eight minutes, surprisingly got the start Sunday. Things didn’t go so well for him.

Kerr's worst scenario from starting Cousins, he picks up two fouls in first four minutes #NBAFinals
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) June 3, 2019

The Raptors are attacking DeMarcus Cousins in the pick-and-roll relentlessly. It is paying immediate dividends.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 3, 2019

Pregame:

Obama in the house.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, wearing a “Vote for our Lives” t-shirt, delivered this message on gun violence before Finals Game 2 vs. Raptors pic.twitter.com/0ytz2PMmmb
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) June 2, 2019

And in a far less important fashion update...

NBA Finals Game 2: Warriors at Raptors

DATE: Sunday, June 2
TIME: 8 p.m. Eastern
LOCATION: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
TV CHANNEL: ABC
STREAMING: Watch ESPN
INJURIES: Warriors (Kevin Durant, calf, ruled out for Game 2); Raptors (OG Anunoby, appendectomy, back for Game 2)

Catch up since Game 1

NBA’s global ambitions get a boost from Toronto’s arrival in Finals

Four hours from the Raptors’ home, the cradle of basketball also resides in Ontario

The Warriors need Kevin Durant, and the Raptors exposed the price they paid to get him

Despite hearing from NBA, Drake went full Drake in Game 1 of the Finals

NBA Finals preview

>> For years, a certain superlative — “best player in the league” — has been the sole domain of LeBron James, whose streak of consecutive NBA Finals appearances ended at eight this season. Right on cue, the LeBron-less void of this year’s playoffs has birthed a fascinating and layered debate about James’s successor. These Finals will feature three stars — Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard — who can make compelling cases for the throne. (Read more)

>> Kawhi Leonard is back in the NBA Finals, but this will be a very different series than the one that helped make Leonard a household name five years ago. He no longer defers or plays in anyone’s shadow, he isn’t surrounded by legends, and he isn’t coached by one of the sport’s all-time greats. Crucially, he won’t be leading a team-wide plan to slow down a single superstar. Instead, he will be on the receiving end of such an effort. (Read more)

>> Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard should be counting the days until free agency only because they can’t wait to sign new contracts to remain in two of the best situations in the NBA. Instead, it feels like the Finals represent a dual ending. For Durant, it could conclude one of the most successful and polarizing three-year stints a professional athlete has ever had. For Leonard, it could be a one-and-done season for the ages with a team that risked it all by trading for him without assurances he would sign long-term. (Read more)

>> The Raptors franchise is making its NBA Finals debut this week, so “pinch yourself” moments are inevitable. Toronto, though, appears as ready as it will ever be for its turn on center stage when the Finals open. (Read more)

>> The Raptors have finally broken through to the NBA Finals, and to say a certain segment of Canadians are jazzed about this is to diminish the meaning of the term “jazzed.” They are not only line-up-at-4 a.m. jazzed, but line-up-at-4 a.m.-to-get-into-the-watch-party-outside-the-stadium jazzed. (Read more)

>> While they may not be able to rely on Kevin Durant breaking down defenses in isolation, the Warriors have gone back to what made them successful before Durant’s arrival: the Steph Curry-Draymond Green pick-and-roll. (Read more)

>> We’re not going to come out and say the Raptors have no chance of beating the Warriors in the NBA Finals. It’s a seven-game series, Toronto has home-court advantage and Kevin Durant may or may not play for Golden State. But based on this list of picks by people who get paid to follow the NBA ardently, it certainly doesn’t seem as if the Raptors have much of a chance. (Read more)