Limpag: Game 6

UP six with only two minutes to go, I thought this was surely it. But Golden State is not a two-time defending champion for nothing. They didn’t panic and they got Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The two may miss some shots in the game but come crunch time and when the team needed them most, they delivered.

They’re going home with a chance to tie the series at 3-3 at the Oracle Arena and this time, they won’t be with Kevin Durant, the MVP who injured his foot in Game 5.

Whether you hate the Golden State Warriors or loathe the idea that Kevin Durant ditched the Oklahoma City Thunder for an easy path to the NBA title, it’s never okay to cheer on when the guy is obviously in pain after injuring his foot anew.

I’m not sure if it’s the same injury that sidelined him since the Western Conference semifinals. Online reports say the Warriors are still waiting for an MRI on the injury.

In what will likely be their final game at the Oracle Arena, I’m sure the Warriors will make that final stand. They don’t want their final game in their old arena to be a loss; a venue for Toronto’s coronation, wouldn’t it? From being a foregone conclusion, this finals series has finally become interesting. Or I guess, those who readily dismissed the Raptors’ chances--like me--didn’t know the background of this bunch of Raptors. Or of the path they took to be where they are right now.

If the Raptors win and take their first NBA title, the focus will shift on where the key players of the two teams will be going after this season. Kawhi Leonard is supposed to play one season for the Raptors before he tests free agency, while we all have heard all season long how Durant is supposed to be leaving the Warriors this year, right? But if he leads the Raptors to their first title, will management let Leonard go? And if Durant loses in the finals for the first time, will that prod him to stay one more year and avenge such loss?

NADAL’S 12TH. Rafael Nadal is a beast when it comes to clay and he proved it once again in Roland Garros, winning his 12th title against Dominic Thiem in a repeat of last year’s final. Thiem, who defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, was only 12 years old when Nadal won his first French Open title in 2005 as a 19-year-old. He was world No. 2 in juniors in 2011, when Nadal won the second of what would be a five-year run at the French Open after Robin Soderling handed him a shock defeat in the fourth round in Roland Garros.

That paved the way for Roger Federer to win his only French Open crown when he defeated Soderling in the final of that year. Federer lost this year to Nadal in the semifinals, just like in five previous meetings with the Spaniard in Roland Garros, including four finals match-ups.

And to think Nadal’s latest triumph came after he considered taking a break due to his injury struggles.

“I’ve had too many issues. So that makes these last few weeks very, very special. One possibility was to stop for a while and recover my body,” he told BBC.

For fans of the game, these past few months—with Nadal and Federer competing at their peak again—have also been very special.

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