Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, foreground, reaches for the ball in front of Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala during the first half of Game 3 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
OAKLAND, California—Kyle Lowry has 15 points, Pascal Siakam has 14 and the Toronto Raptors lead the Golden State Warriors 60-52 at halftime of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
All five Raptors starters have at least eight points.
Only one Warriors starter has scored that many. That would be Stephen Curry, who leads everybody with 25 points. That ties his playoff career first-half high, and is the most he’s ever had in a single half of a finals game.
The Raptors led by as many as 14. Lowry has three fouls, picking up his third with a half-minute remaining in the half.
Klay Thompson is out, and Kevin Durant is missing yet again for Golden State. Stephen Curry has more than tried to pick up the scoring slack, and he has 17 points on 6 for 11 shooting so far. The 11 shots are the most he’s ever taken in a single quarter of a finals game.
With Thompson sidelined with a strained hamstring, the Warriors used their 10th different starting lineup of the playoffs. That’s the most that any team has ever used in a single postseason, at least since such things started being tracked in 1971.
Leonard is playing at Oracle for the first time since the game in May 2017 when Zaza Pachulia closed out on him, got a foot in his landing space and caused Leonard to turn his ankle.
That knocked him out of that season’s West finals with San Antonio, and the Warriors went on to win the NBA title.
Wednesday night’s winner will take a 2-1 lead in the title series.