TORONTO: Toronto forward Pascal Siakam scored 32 points and the upstart Raptors defeated the defending champion Golden State Warriors 118-109 in Thursday’s opening game of the NBA Finals.
The 25-year-old Cameroonian forward made 14-of-17 shots from the floor while Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and both players pulled down eight rebounds and passed out five assists.
Spanish center Marc Gasol added 20 points and Kyle Lowry had nine assists for the Raptors, who seized the lead in the best-of-seven championship series that resumes Sunday in Toronto.
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 34 points for Golden State but the Warriors could not solve Toronto’s swarming and aggressive defensive work.
“We’ve got a lot of bodies,” Siakam said. “We’ve got guys just willing to move and play defense. We use it to our advantage. I think we’re doing a pretty decent job. We made some mistakes but for the most part we played solid.”
The Warriors seek their third title in a row and fourth in five seasons while the Raptors are in the first NBA Finals in their 24-season history.
Toronto Raptors defeat Golden State in NBA Finals opener
Toronto Raptors defeat Golden State in NBA Finals opener
- The Raptors are in the first NBA Finals in their 24-season history
- The Warriors seek their third title in a row and fourth in five seasons
Medvedev to face Griekspoor in bid for second Dubai title
- Former world No. 1 Medvedev demolished top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the semifinal
- Despite an injury, unseeded Dutchman Griekspoor beat 5th-seed Andrey Rublev in the other semifinal
DUBAI: Daniil Medvedev reached the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Friday and will face unseeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor as the Russian attempts to achieve something that has eluded him throughout his stellar career — winning the same tournament twice.
Former world number one Medvedev demolished top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-2 in an 83-minute semifinal, setting up a title clash that could see him claim a second Dubai crown to go with his 2023 triumph.
Medvedev, who has won 22 titles at 22 different tournaments, arrived in Dubai with a point to prove after early exits in Rotterdam and Doha.
However, the third seed has been in scintillating form in Dubai, dispatching Shang Juncheng, Stan Wawrinka, Jenson Brooksby and Auger-Aliassime — all in straight sets.
“It has been an amazing four matches, probably playing better and better each match, today being the best performance,” said Medvedev.
“If I can put in an even better performance tomorrow, I will have my chances to win and that is what I am going to try to do.”
Griekspoor battles injury to beat Rublev
Standing in his way will be Griekspoor, who continued his giant-killing run by beating fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6(6) in the other semifinal.
The Dutchman denied the 2022 champion, who also finished runner-up the following year, another shot at the Dubai trophy, saving two set points in the second-set tiebreak.
“No idea how I pulled off this one, I could barely walk at the end of the first set,” said Griekspoor, who took a medical timeout for treatment in the opening set.
“He served extremely well. I got very lucky in the tiebreak to win it in two sets ... I landed with a serve and felt something in my hamstring.
“If he had won the tiebreak, I don’t know if I would have continued.”
It marked three consecutive top-20 wins for Griekspoor for the first time in his career after he beat second seed Alexander Bublik and Jakub Mensik en route to the final.
Griekspoor, who has won three ATP 250 titles in his career, will be looking to add a first ATP 500 trophy to his collection when he faces Medvedev.
