The Raptors won Game 3, 123-109, as they jumped on top of the shorthanded Warriors early. Despite a tremendous performance from Steph Curry, Golden State never was able to mount a real run.
Klay Thompson’s absence after being called a gametime decision with his hamstring strain put a serious damper on the Warriors chances in the game, as his presence was missed significantly on both ends of the floor. While his offensive impact is big, Golden State seemed the most lost on defense, struggling to contain the Raptors wing players.
Game 4 is the first of the series to be played after only one day off, which is unfortunate for the Warriors given their need for time to let injuries heal. Still, Steve Kerr told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic that he expects Klay to play on Friday night, while Kevin Durant’s status is still up in the air.
Steve Kerr just told me that he expects Klay Thompson to play in Game 4 on Friday. Kerr said he doesn’t know yet about Kevin Durant’s status for that game.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) June 6, 2019
Getting Thompson back is, obviously, a big deal as it allows Kerr to shorten his wing rotation at least a bit, and not have to rely on Quinn Cook, Shaun Livingston, and Jonas Jerebko for as many major minutes. If they are able to add Durant, it totally changes the dynamic of this series, even at 2-1 Toronto, and would make for a fascinating close to the Finals. We’ll have to see about Durant, but Thompson seems very likely to be back in the mix for Game 4.
