Golden State Warriors v Toronto Raptors: NBA finals Game 5 – live!

• Toronto lead best-of-seven series 3-1 heading into fifth game
• Email Hunter with your thoughts or tweet @HunterFelt

1.00am BST

Preamble

Is this the end of the Warriors dynasty? That’s the question here in Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors. With their Game 4 win at Oracle Arena, the Raptors took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and now the game returns to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena for what could be the final game of the NBA season and a symbolic conclusion to the Warriors’ reign as the league’s unstoppable juggernaut.

9.11pm BST

Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Toronto has been handling the NBA finals:

When Fitriya Hussein was given free tickets to a Toronto Raptorsbasketball game years ago in middle school, she was drawn in by the intensity of play; the strategy, speed and excitement. She instantly became a fan. But with that mantle came years of heartbreak, disappointment and frustration that sports fans around the world know all too well.

Now, after Friday’s victory over the reigning champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, the Raptors are a single win away from their first-ever championship. And basketball fans in Toronto are experiencing a feeling that has been absent for more than two decades: hope.

Related: Toronto Raptors’ success gives Canadian sports fans a rare feeling: hope

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