The Toronto Raptors win Canada’s first NBA championship
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TORONTO, ON - JUNE 13: Toronto Raptors fans cheer after the team beat the Golden State Warriors in Game Six of the NBA Finals, during a viewing party in Jurassic Park outside of Scotiabank Arena on June 13, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
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—
The Toronto Raptors became the 2019 NBA champions Thursday, and they are the first team outside the US to do it.
Game 6 of the NBA Finals was tight, going back and forth between the Raptors and the Golden State Warriors. But the Raptors took the game in the end with a 114-110 for a 4-2 series victory.
The match ended the 2019 championship series and was a first-time win for the Raptors, who made their NBA Finals debut in their 24th season.
Kawhi Leonard, the All-Star forward Toronto acquired last summer from San Antonio, was named Finals MVP for the second time. Leonard is the third player to win the award with more than one franchise, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James.
Raptors point-guard Kyle Lowry and forward Pascal Siakam put up spectacular performances as well, each with 26 points.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Kawhi Leonard celebrates after the Toronto Raptors won the NBA title with a 114-110 Game 6 victory over Golden State on Thursday, June 14. Leonard was named Finals MVP.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Raptors celebrate with the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Golden State players react as they realize their reign is over late in Game 6. This was the fifth straight season that the Warriors played in the NBA Finals.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Cole Burston/Getty Images
Raptors fans celebrate during a viewing party outside Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry cherishes the victory.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Leonard and DeMarcus Cousins battle for a loose ball late in Game 6 as the Raptors led by one and the last few seconds ticked away.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
The scramble, after a Stephen Curry missed 3-pointer, led to a timeout called by Golden State's Draymond Green with less than a second to play. The Warriors had no timeouts remaining, however, so they received a technical foul instead.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Curry misses a 3-pointer in the game's final seconds.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Golden State guard Klay Thompson fell awkwardly in the third quarter and twisted his knee. He shot two free throws after the play and then went to the locker room. He did not return to the game after that.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Toronto center Serge Ibaka takes a shot.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ben Margot/AP
Lowry drives to the basket during the first half of Game 6. He had 21 points and six assists by halftime.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Three Raptors defend Stephen Curry in the first half of Game 6.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Golden State fans hold a sign for star forward Kevin Durant, who ruptured his Achilles in Game 5.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Claus Andersen/Getty Images
Curry rises for a shot during Game 5 on Monday, June 10. Curry had 31 points for the Warriors, who staved off elimination with a 106-105 win in Toronto.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Lowry had a shot to win Game 5 at the buzzer, but it was blocked by Green.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Nathan Denette/AP
Leonard scores over Thompson during the second half of Game 5.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Durant, playing in his first game since injuring his calf in the Western Conference semifinals, went down in the second quarter of Game 5. He left the game and wouldn't return. Days later, it was confirmed that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP
Lowry, left, and Marc Gasol double-team Thompson during Game 4 on Friday, June 7. The Raptors frustrated the high-powered Warriors en route to a 105-92 victory.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP
Toronto guard Fred VanVleet lies on the floor after he was hit in the face by an inadvertent elbow in Game 4. One of his teeth was also knocked out.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Tony Avelar/Pool/AP
Curry is surrounded by Raptors during Game 3 on Wednesday, June 5. He scored 47 points, a playoff career-high, but it wasn't enough as the Raptors won 123-109.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ben Margot/AP
Leonard reaches for a loose ball during the first half of Game 3. He finished the game with 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ben Margot/AP
Thompson, second from right, sat out Game 3 with a hamstring injury. He was one of several Warriors who missed time during the series. Center Kevon Looney fractured cartilage in his chest in Game 2 and didn't return until Game 5. And Durant, of course, missed most of the series.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Lowry argues with Mark Stevens, a Warriors investor who pushed him in Game 3 after Lowry jumped into the seats for a loose ball. Stevens was fined $500,000 for the altercation and banned from Oracle Arena for a year.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Leonard rises for a shot during Game 3. This was his first season in Toronto. He was traded in July by the San Antonio Spurs, and he now becomes a free agent.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images
Warriors fans get ready for Game 3 at Oracle Arena. Next season, the team moves into a new arena in San Francisco.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Chris Elise/NBAE/Getty Images
Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala broke the hearts of Raptors fans with a key 3-pointer late in Game 2. Golden State won 109-104 to even the series at one game apiece.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Chris Elise/NBAE/Getty Images
Former US President Barack Obama waves to the crowd while attending Game 2 in Toronto.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
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Siakam shoots during Game 1 on Thursday, May 30. Siakam scored a career-high 32 points as the Raptors won 118-109.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP
VanVleet is fouled by Green during the second half of Game 1.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press/AP
Rapper Drake, a huge Raptors fan who sits courtside and often jaws with opposing players, celebrates during Game 1. Curry's father, Dell, used to play for the Raptors, and Drake was wearing his jersey.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Cousins tries to block an Ibaka shot during Game 1.
Photos: In photos: Raptors dethrone Warriors for first NBA title
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
A view of Toronto's Scotiabank Arena before Game 1.
Just when things seemed to be tilting in the Warriors favor in Game Six, they suffered another devastating injury.
All-Star shooting-guard Klay Thompson fell to the floor after attempting a lay-up and was left clutching his knee, with the Warriors announcing later that he had torn his ACL.
In an incredible display of toughness, Thompson returned to the court, completed his two free-throws before being helped to the locker-room.
It was all too familiar for the Warriors. The team was playing without two-time NBA Finals MVP, Kevin Durant, who in Game 5 of the NBA Finals was helped off the court after suffering an Achilles injury, while his team went on to win the game 106-105.
It was the last ever game for the Warriors at Oracle Arena, 47 years after its opening as the Oakland Coliseum. The team will move next season to the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Toronto Raptors, the only active Canadian franchise in the NBA, became the team of not just the city, but of their nation, according to the mayor of Almonte, a town more than 360 miles from Toronto.
And some big Canadian names took to social media to celebrate.
Drake, a Canadian rapper and fan of the team, announced on Instagram that he will release two singles in celebration of the Raptors’ success.
Canada’s Prime Minister tweeted his congratulations.
“HISTORIC!” said the Toronto Maple Leafs. Canada’s teams have had a title drought since 1993 in four major North American sports–NBA, MLB, NHL and the NFL– and the Raptor’s win broke the trend.
CNN’s Homero De la Fuente contributed to this report.
