Toronto is preparing for another chance at winning the first championship in team history as they carry a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 of the NBA Finals.Here’s what the U.S. media sites are saying about the Raptors ahead of Thursday’s potentially historic game:A missed opportunityThat’s at least according to former Star reporter Curtis Rush, now a sports writer for Forbes Magazine, who says things are only just getting interesting for the NBA Finals as the Raptors head to Oakland to play the Golden State Warriors Thursday night.Rush thinks the loss of Game 5 can be pinned down to one simple reason: “they couldn’t shoot straight.” But the chance to clinch the series is far from over, he writes, as they head to Oracle Arena with a one game lead.The Warriors without Durant?It’s almost too easy to find a metaphor for Warriors foward Kevin Durant’s Achilles injury from Monday night, but several news sites are doing just that — contemplating whether the team can beat out the Raps without their all-star.A panel from ESPN discussed the impact of Durant’s absence on the Warriors. Without him playing, “it’s hard to see how Golden State can summon enough to pull off two more games, no matter how much championship DNA remains,” says NBA writer Tim Bontemps.“Toronto is firmly the favourite once again,” he says. NBA analytics expert for ESPN André Snellings says the Raptors have been the better team when Durant is out.“They are longer and more athletic than the Warriors, able to maintain offensive and defensive pressure that Golden State seems unable to overcome,” Snellings writes. Rob Mahoney from Sports Illustrated certainly seems to agree. “There are some events in the NBA so consequential as to shift the ground beneath the entire league,” wrote the NBA reporter who thinks Durant’s injury is a “tidal force in the championship series.”Not i ...
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