WAS that a bad omen? Golden State losing Game One of a playoff series for the first time in a long while?

Until that 118-109 loss to Toronto on Friday (PHL time), May 31, 2019, the Warriors had never lost a Game One 12 straight times since the opener of the 2015 Western Conference Finals.

The Associated Press also said Golden State won five consecutive Game Ones in an NBA Finals, starting in 1975.

Friday’s loss also snapped a three-game streak that saw Golden State erase a 10-point deficit or more at the half to win.

They did that against Portland en route to Golden States’ 4-0 blanking of the Trail Blazers in the Western Finals.

Toronto coach Nick Nurse must have studied those three Golden State comebacks and took the lessons learned to heart—keying, perhaps, the Raptors’ Game One win over the Warriors in the NBA Finals opener at Scotiabank.

“You try not to have any droughts on offense because you know their (the Warriors) ability to score quick,” said Nurse, whose Warriors were ahead 43 of the 48 minutes of the game.

Never did I see Toronto milk the clock on Friday even when they were comfortably ahead.

Leads—even the huge ones—are never safe against a team like Golden State, whose shooters from afar like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson can splash threes in rapid succession at the blink of an eye.

The Raptors, thus, heeded Nurse’s knack at not leaving the gas pedal at all costs, leading to Toronto’s seemingly unimpeded victory that all but inflicted a huge psychological dent on the Warriors.

Some may still insist but, no, it was not rust out of the 10-day rest that Golden State got before the Finals’ blast-off. Rather, it was Toronto’s terrific tight-as-a-python’s lynching defense that triggered the Raptors’ breakthrough win—forcing Golden State to commit 17 turnovers.

And did you know that Golden State made a measly 34 field goals, with Curry and Thompson limited to only a combined 16 shots?

And so, will we see Toronto up 2-0 after Monday’s Game Two?

Nurse nursing hopes continually, I guess—faint they may be.

Getting to be interesting.

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HAPPY birthday to Dayong J. Mendoza (June 2), assistant coach of San Miguel Beer in the PBA. Cheers!