2019 NBA Finals

The 2019 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s 2018–19 season and conclusion of the season’s playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series held from May 30 through June 13, 2019, the Eastern Conference champion Toronto Raptors defeated the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors, four games to two, earning the franchise its first NBA championship as well as the first won by a team based outside the United States. In his first year playing with the Raptors after being acquired via a trade during the off-season, Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second time in his career.

This was the first NBA Finals appearance for the Raptors, and the league’s first finals with games played outside of the United States.Home-court advantage was awarded to Toronto, who finished the regular season with one more win (58–24) than Golden State (57–25). This was the first time in five consecutive NBA Finals appearances that the then-two-time defending NBA-champion Warriors did not have home-court advantage.Also for the first time over the past five postseasons, the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers did not meet in the championship round.This was the first finals since 2010 to not include superstar LeBron James, who played in the past eight finals with Cleveland and the Miami Heat.