It was a tie game with four and a half minutes left in the third quarter, and Stephen Curry tried to worm his way into the paint. As usual, multiple Toronto Raptors followed him, but the only passing lanes that opened up led to Alfonzo McKinnie and Draymond Green on the perimeter. The Golden State Warriors superstar flipped the ball across the court to McKinnie, who kept it moving. When Curry got it back, he had eight seconds to make a play. He drove, attracting attention again, and found McKinnie for a floater, but Serge Ibaka was right there, ready to swat it away:

Ibaka made a 3-pointer in transition seconds later, the start of a 21-6 run that broke the game open. That possession, though, was a microcosm of Golden State’s big problem in the NBA Finals. It seemed like the Raptors had six defenders on the court, and the Warriors had to work like crazy to get decent looks.  

There were many factors in Toronto’s monumental Game 4 win. Kawhi Leonard, poised as ever, added to his legend. Kyle Lowry picked apart Golden State’s defense. Pascal Siakam overcame a tough start, and the whole team kept moving the ball and shooting with confidence despite a chorus of clanked first-half 3s. The Raptors and Warriors both got energy from their defense, though, and the team that is up 3-1 was the one that locked the other one down. Golden State scored just 98.9 points per 100 possessions in the 105-92 loss, its worst offensive performance of the playoffs. It only managed 85.1 per 100 against Toronto’s set defense, which was awfully similar to Game 1, which was awfully similar to how the Milwaukee Bucks fared in the Eastern Conference finals.

Against Milwaukee, the Raptors improved as the series went on. It was a challenge to stop the Bucks from running and keep Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the paint, but they figured it out. The Warriors presented a different challenge, based on Curry and Klay Thompson’s shooting and off-ball movement, and Toronto’s defense has once again gotten sharper with repetition. The Raptors have a collection of All-Defense caliber players and a relatively simple directive: Do not let Curry or Thompson get loose. 

Sometimes, it seemed like one of the Splash Brothers had created an easy look for a teammate, only for Toronto to recover, rotate and force a more difficult one, like this Andre Iguodala 3:

With Thompson on the bench, the spacing was a mess again. Here, Golden State committed a shot clock violation on a possession that ended with Kevon Looney air balling a contested turnaround 17-footer:

Late in the game, the Warriors were desperate for any sort of momentum-changer — so desperate that Thompson attempted a turnaround 3 in the corner over two defenders with 15 on the shot clock:

In the time since Kevin Durant’s injury, Golden State has had to find ways to make up for its supporting cast’s lack of shooting. In the Warriors’ best moments, the story has been that Durant’s absence has made them play a more exciting style, as they had no choice but to double down on what made them special before he got there. Even when they started conference finals games slowly, they were able to find their flow eventually. This has proven much tougher against Toronto.  

In Game 4, Curry and Thompson shot a combined 8-for-19 from 3-point range; their teammates shot 0-for-8. In the series, Curry and Thompson have shot a combined 28-for-64 from 3-point range; their teammates have shot 17-for-64. It is reductive to say the Finals have come down to this, but the disparity is the root of the Raptors’ confidence in their defensive game plan and the reason that they revisited the box-and-one for a few possessions when Thompson was sitting. As long as they limit their mistakes, Golden State might not be able to get back to having fun without role players hitting jumpers. 

Durant still looms over the Finals. He is exactly the kind of player the Warriors need when they are stuck in the mud. Even if he isn’t quite himself as a shot creator, merely having him on the court for significant minutes would do wonders for their spacing. They are now facing elimination, though, and they can’t feel comfortable with counting on him to save the day. A win away from its first championship in franchise history, Toronto has made a habit of making opponents uncomfortable.