Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 1 of 2019 NBA Finals

1. Are the Warriors in trouble?

The Warriors had never dropped the first game of a Finals series over the past four seasons, until now. Additionally, they had never opened a Finals series on the road..until now.

Bearing this in mind, are the Dubs in trouble? Let’s take a closer look at the tale of the tape before we attempt to answer that question.

Leonard didn’t have a great outing, needing 14 attempts to produce 23 points. Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry regressed a bit, scoring just seven points on 2-for-9 shooting and just 1-for-5 from 3-point range. In other words, despite two of its key players having off nights, Toronto still found a way to take Game 1.

Now, let’s take a look at the flip side of the narrative. For starters, Siakam — as well as he has played during the regular season as well as the playoffs — probably isn’t going to torch the Warriors’ defense for 30 points a night.

Secondly, even though Golden State didn’t shoot the ball particularly well (43.6 percent from the field), the outcome of the game was very much in doubt until the last few minutes of the contest. Furthermore, the goal for the Warriors is to steal one of these first two games and that goal is still within reach.

Simply put, although Toronto played well in Game 1, it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.