2018-19 NBA Finals
May 30, 2019 – June 13, 2019
2018-19 NBA Finals result: TRToronto Raptors def. GSWGolden State Warriors, 4-2, May 30, 2019 – June 13, 2019.
Result
| Team | Series | |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | TRToronto Raptors | 4-2 |
| Runner-up | GSWGolden State Warriors |
Games
| Game | Date | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | May 30, 2019 | TRToronto Raptors 118–109 Golden State Warriors | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON |
| Game 2 | June 2, 2019 | GSWGolden State Warriors 109–104 Toronto Raptors | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON |
| Game 3 | June 5, 2019 | TRToronto Raptors 123–109 Golden State Warriors | Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA |
| Game 4 | June 7, 2019 | TRToronto Raptors 105–92 Golden State Warriors | Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA |
| Game 5 | June 10, 2019 | GSWGolden State Warriors 106–105 Toronto Raptors | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON |
| Game 6 | June 13, 2019 | TRToronto Raptors 114–110 Golden State Warriors | Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA |
Finals MVP
Kawhi Leonard. Leonard averaged 28.5 points per game in the series and was named Finals MVP, becoming just the third player in NBA history to win the award with two different franchises, having previously won it with San Antonio in 2014.
Series context
The 2018-19 Toronto Raptors made franchise history by winning their first NBA championship, becoming the first team based outside the United States to win the title. Toronto's breakthrough season was built around a blockbuster offseason trade that sent longtime franchise star DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, a two-way superstar and former Finals MVP who was returning from a lost, injury-marred season. Paired with All-Star Kyle Lowry and a deep, well-coached roster under Nick Nurse, Toronto finished second in the Eastern Conference and advanced through the playoffs by beating Orlando, Philadelphia (on Leonard's iconic Game 7 buzzer-beater), and Milwaukee. Golden State entered the Finals attempting to win a third straight title and fourth in five years, but the defending champions were increasingly hampered by injuries after a grueling five-year Finals run. The series was tightly contested and shifted momentum multiple times: Toronto won Game 1 in Toronto, and the two teams traded wins through the first four games. The series took a dramatic and consequential turn in Game 5 when Kevin Durant, who had missed the previous month with a calf strain, returned to action only to rupture his Achilles tendon just minutes into the second quarter, an injury that effectively ended his time with Golden State. Despite losing Durant, Golden State forced the series back to Oakland by winning Game 5, but in the clinching Game 6, star Klay Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee with just over two minutes left in the third quarter, another devastating blow to the Warriors' core. Toronto held on to close out the title on the road, 114-110, marking one of the few times in NBA history that a team clinched the championship on the road, and the Raptors became the first team to win the last five games of a Finals series. The 2018-19 Finals is remembered as much for its historic significance for Toronto and for Kawhi Leonard's singular postseason brilliance as for the injuries that struck Golden State, effectively ending the Warriors' dynastic run and setting the stage for a rebuild the following season. Leonard left Toronto for the LA Clippers in free agency that same summer, making his championship a one-and-done triumph for the Raptors' star. Leonard, who averaged 28.5 points per game across the series, was named Finals MVP but fell one vote short of a unanimous selection; the lone dissenting vote, cast by a member of the national media panel, went to Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, who scored 22 points in the Game 6 clincher, including a string of decisive fourth-quarter points. Toronto entered the Finals having gone 58-24 in the regular season, the second-best record in the league, while Golden State finished 57-25. Toronto's road to the Finals also included a signature moment earlier in the playoffs, Leonard's buzzer-beating, rim-rattling jumper to eliminate Philadelphia in Game 7 of the conference semifinals, a shot often cited among the most dramatic in playoff history.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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