Who Won the 2019 NBA Championship?

The Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals.

The Regular Season

The Toronto Raptors made history in the 2019 NBA season by winning their first NBA Championship. They did so by defeating the reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors, in six games. It was a hard-fought battle, but the Raptors came out on top.

The Standings

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men’s basketball league in North America, composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, and is widely considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.

The NBA regular season runs from October through April, with each team playing 82 games. The NBA playoffs begin in April, with 16 teams (8 from each conference) vying for the championship. The Finals are played in June, with the winning team receiving the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

Here are the standings as of February 19th, 2020:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division

1. Milwaukee Bucks 42-7 .857
2. Toronto Raptors 40-15 .727
3. Boston Celtics 34-15 .694
4. Philadelphia 76ers 28-21 .571
5. Brooklyn Nets 23-28 .451
6. New York Knicks 17-35 .327

Southeast Division

1. Miami Heat 34-16 .680
2. Atlanta Hawks 27-23 .540
3. Charlotte Hornets 23-27 .460
4. Orlando Magic 22-28 .440
5. Washington Wizards 19-31 .380

The Playoffs

The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among the top eight teams in each conference, with seedings based on regular season records. The NBA Finals is the championship series of the NBA Playoffs in which the Eastern and Western conference champions play each other. The team with the best record in the league during the regular season earns home-court advantage, which gives them a 4–2 home record (instead of 3–2). The next three teams receive 5, 6, or 7 as their seed, respectively.

The Finals

The Toronto Raptors became the first Canadian team to win an NBA championship after defeating the Golden State Warriors in six games. It was the first time in a best-of-seven NBA Finals series that the road team had won every game.

The Teams

In the 2019 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Toronto Raptors. The Warriors had won the championship three times in a row prior to this series, while the Raptors were appearing in their first finals ever.

Golden State Warriors
The Warriors were led by their star players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. They also had two other All-Stars on their team, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The Warriors were looking to become the first team in NBA history to win four championships in a row.

Toronto Raptors
The Raptors were led by their star player Kawhi Leonard. They also had two other All-Stars on their team, Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam. The Raptors were looking to become the first Canadian team in NBA history to win a championship.

The Results

The Toronto Raptors are the 2019 NBA champions, defeating the Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of the Finals on Thursday night. It is the first championship in franchise history.

The Raptors were led by Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists in the victory. Leonard averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists in the series.

Pascal Siakam had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, while Kyle Lowry had 17 points and Fred VanVleet had 16. For Golden State, Stephen Curry had 21 points, while Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each had 11.

Aftermath

The Toronto Raptors are the 2019 NBA Champions. They defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games. This was the first NBA Championship for the Raptors, and the first time a Canadian team has won the NBA Championship.

The Reaction

As the final seconds of Game 6 ticked away, the Raptors’ players, who had gathered near midcourt, broke into wide grins and began hugging one another. Coach Nick Nurse jumped up and down in place. Marc Gasol, who had struggled mightily in these playoffs, lifted his arms in triumph. Lowry buried his face in a towel to hide his emotions. And then the tears began to flow.

The Legacy

The Golden State Warriors won the 2019 NBA Finals, defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games. With this win, the Warriors tied the record for most championships in a five-year span with the 1960s Boston Celtics. They also became the first team in NBA history to win three championships in four years since the Shaq-Kobe Lakers did it from 2000 to 2002.

The Warriors dynasty began in 2015 when they won their first championship of the Steve Kerr era. They followed that up with another title in 2017, cementing themselves as one of the greatest teams of all time. But they faced adversity in 2018, losing to the Raptors in the Finals.

With their 2019 win, the Warriors added another chapter to their legend and cemented themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.