The Golden State Warriors had spent two days boasting, but then, it ain’t boasting if you can do it. They had lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which must have been a bit of a shock. Unlike the Raptors you grew up with, the Warriors don’t lose Game 1s.
But they had all the confidence in the world, and said they would respond like champions. The playoffs are about your true upper capacity — not a Tuesday night in February in Minnesota, or a back-to-back in Sacramento, but the real high end. And nobody can go up like Golden State.