OAKLAND, Calif. _ When they took the floor Thursday night, it was the 2,070th game played by the Warriors at Oracle Arena, a number only notable because it was also the last. Outside the arena was still draped in Warriors images, huge photos of players and fan-ready slogans, but it was still goodbye, just a matter of whether a parade might pass by in a few days.
But what the Oracle really needed was one more memory and that came late in the third quarter when Klay Thompson, who had supplied much of the heroics for the Warriors on this night and really for years, came down awkwardly as he was fouled on a fast-break layup. He had to be helped to his feet and carried off the court with his arms wrapped around the shoulders of his teammates.
The Warriors called a timeout and by the time that they were shuffling back onto the court Thompson came striding out of the tunnel, raising echoes of Willis Reed at Madison Square Garden. He went to the line and sunk a pair of free throws giving him 30 points, but the return was an emotional one, not a realistic one. By coming back for the free throws he was eligible to return to the game but he departed after sinking them and headed back to the locker room. He was done for the night, leaving the locker room on crutches.
But in the end, emotion wasn't going to push them over the top. The Warriors, who had formed a roster that was the envy of every team in a five-year run of dominance, were outmanned and outplayed down the stretch as the Raptors held on in the final minutes of Game 6 of the NBA Finals to secure their first championship with a 114-110 win.
Even before Thompson's injury inside the arena there were emotional signs. With Kevin Durant having undergone surgery to repair the ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in Game 5 three days earlier, Quinn Cook, Durant's longtime friend, warmed up in a white Durant No. 35 shirt and Draymond Green donned one for introductions. Towels were being handed out with an imprint honoring Oakland with the K and D highlighted for Durant, who was back in New York recovering from surgery.
The pomp and circumstance was assembled for a farewell to the Oracle, the Warriors and Raptors giving it a fitting sendoff with a sixth game of the NBA Finals. But as the game wore on like a heavyweight bout it seemed as if the arena was hosting a cage match with the final reward going to the last man standing.
The teams traded blows until finally, with 3:46 to play Fred VanVleet connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key, nudging the Raptors in front. The Warriors kept coming, closing the gap to 109-108 on a drive by DeMarcus Cousins with 46 seconds left. Toronto coach Nick Nurse called time with 37.7 remaining. Pascal Siakam scored on a short jumper and Steph Curry went to the line with 18.5 seconds left, converting a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one again.
Kyle Lowry had to call time as he tried to inbound and the crowd serenaded one more time, chanting, "Warriors" over and over. Danny Green, trapped near midcourt by Draymond Green threw the ball away, giving the Warriors the ball with 9.6 seconds left. Curry misfired on a forced 3-pointer and in a scramble for the loose ball as the clock ticked down Draymond Green dove on it and called a timeout that the Warriors didn't have for a technical foul, stopping the clock with 0.9 seconds remaining. Leonard hit the free throw and Toronto inbounded to Leonard, who was fouled as time expired, a review the only thing keeping the game alive.
The Raptors _ more specifically, Kyle Lowry _ scored the first eight points of the game and suddenly the tributes and fireworks seemed a distant memory. But after the Warriors finally got on the board and Lowry added another 3-pointer for an 11-2 Toronto advantage the Warriors methodically began to make their way back, briefly taking a lead before settling for a 33-32 deficit after one quarter.
The teams traded leads until the Raptors came out with a 60-57 halftime advantage led by Lowry's 21 points. If his outburst seemed to come out of nowhere it was no more unusual than much of what was on display. Toronto couldn't pull away despite hitting nine 3's in the half while the Warriors turned the ball over 10 times. Steph Curry was just 2-of-7 from the field and Kawhi Leonard had nine points and three fouls.
The game, like the series, would rest not in the hands of a printer providing flourishes to induce tears or goosebumps, but to the players who were tasked with carrying their teams to the finish line. And no matter the result, these teams boasted players who seemed made for the moment.
In a lineage of players who have worn the uniform for the Warriors here and even won championships (playing in a nearby arena in 1975 for the Finals home games since the Ice Follies were occupying the arena), there may have never been players more suited to hold this pressure than Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, the core of the five-year run that made this arena a landmark in its final iteration.
"Well, this is unique," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game of the emotions. "This is sort of a once-in-a-career moment where you play in a building for the very last time, and you absolutely know positively without a doubt that it's the last game you'll ever play here. We had a ceremony at the end of the year in the regular season, but we knew we were coming back here to play. And then we had that weird Game 4 a few days ago where we lost and it sure felt anti-climactic, like this can't be the last game at Oracle. Now it's here and it's definite and it's in the midst of this series that we're trying to win, so there's a lot going on."
