TORONTO _ In the days leading up to the start of the NBA Finals, the too long of a breather that allowed rest, preparation and in the case of the Toronto Raptors, time for the young players who had never been on this stage to think of the enormity of the task.
Not only had most of them never been in the Finals, just as the franchise had never reached this in its history, but they were facing the Golden State Warriors, who were making their fifth straight trip to the Finals. The questions mostly focused around what the future held for the Warriors this summer after the formality of running by the Raptors.
And then, one minute and 14 seconds into Game 1, when the chills of the Canadian national anthem performed by The Tenors had subsided and only the nerves of the reality of their situation surrounded them, the Raptors put the ball in the hands of Danny Green. And he calmly drained a three-point field goal, the first points for Toronto.
Green had been in the Finals two times before while with the San Antonio Spurs, had celebrated a championship win. And then Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors star who had been the face of the trade that brought Green here last summer, followed with a three-pointer, too. By the time the first quarter was over the Raptors were in front and with a few scares held on for the victory.
Was it coincidence that it was left to Green and Leonard who had been tasked with starting this series for the neophyte franchise?
"Yes, probably," Green said with a smile. "I didn't notice that until you mentioned it to me. We got out running, able to run our offense how we've been doing most of the year. When we're in our transition that's when we're at our best.
"(It's) very important, especially playing against three-time, four-time, whatever champions. So many times they've been (to the Finals). You've got to protect home court. It's what we fought for all year. Can't give them any type of life or confidence and keep taking advantage of the advantage that we have."
Green and Leonard are the only Raptors to have won a championship before and in their one season here _ which could come to an end with both facing free agency this summer _ have been left to answer questions from teammates. Some like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, who each came up big in Game 1, are young and finding their way. Others like Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol have had individual successes but have never gotten this far.
"Obviously we share experiences," Green said. "We talk about certain things. They obviously have some questions sometimes. It's not like we come in, 'Oh this is what we did in San Antonio.' If they ask or they want to know, we share it and tell them."
While it once was Green hearing the lessons from Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili in San Antonio, he now imparts them. And he was happy to see how his teammates rose to the occasion.
"Very impressed with how poised they were, especially Fred, Pascal," he said. "Just enjoying the moment and continuing to just play basketball and not letting the bright lights get to them. The first couple of minutes, everybody's adrenaline is going. We had a couple of missed shots because everybody's excited, juiced up. Probably some strong ones. But once the first couple minutes get out, then guys kind of settle in and start playing some good basketball."
