Tony Avelar/Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — For six games, Fred VanVleet was tasked with the most difficult defensive assignment of his life: Attach himself to one of the N.B.A.’s greatest scorers as the Toronto Raptors pursued a piece of history. So, for six games, VanVleet chased Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Six games of back cuts and pull-up jumpers and crossover dribbles and punishing screens.
“A million screens,” VanVleet said.
It was like wading into choppy waters and bracing for wave after wave.
But late Thursday night, as the Raptors began to celebrate their first championship after closing out the Warriors with a 114-110 victory in Game 6 of the N.