Trailing the Toronto Raptors 2-1 in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors came into Friday night with a simple philosophy: Win at home, win in Toronto, then win another championship.

Sure, Friday’s Game 4 started off admirably for the Warriors on their home floor. Despite neither team shooting the ball particularly well, the Warriors came out with the energy and edge expected of a team in a must-win situation. 

With Klay Thompson back in the fold after missing the first playoff game of his career with a strained hamstring as well as the surprise return of backup center Kevon Looney, the wounded Warriors had some semblance of a team at relative full strength.

But the Raptors didn’t care about any of that.

Known for their penchant for burying teams in the third quarter, the Warriors found themselves on the receiving end of the shovel Friday night. Raptors star Kawhi Leonard, who had a 14-point first quarter before going scoreless in the second quarter, poured in 17 of his game-high 36 points in the third quarter as the Raptors outscored the Warriors 37-21.

Toronto’s third-quarter explosion turned a hopeful Golden State effort into another rout, 105-92 on the road in Oracle Arena –– Toronto’s second consecutive double-digit victory in the series. Undone by 17 turnovers and an abysmal 8-for-27 night from behind the 3-point line, the Warriors now have one foot in the grave and the other trying desperately to extend this series past Monday night. 

Thompson showed no ill effects from his hamstring strain in Game 4, going off for 28 points in 42 minutes. Thompson shot 11-of-18 overall and made six of the team’s eight 3s in the game. Games like Friday night prove Thompson’s impact for the Warriors on both ends of the floor. Though Leonard torched any and every Warrior assigned to him, Thompson’s presence on the floor seemed to keep the Warriors in the game. Coincidentally, when Thompson went to the bench in the third, Leonard went crazy and put the game out of reach.

Stephen Curry’s magical 47-point performance in Game 3 would have broken most teams’ spirit, but not the Raptors. Though Curry went for 27 points in Game 4, the Raptors’ defense on the former two-time MVP kept him quiet much of the night. 

Curry shot just 9-of-22 from the field and missed seven of his nine attempts from 3-point range. The quickness and length of the Raptors had the historically quick-triggered Curry pump-faking on shots he would typically fire away with aplomb. Curry never found the rhythm he had in Game 3, which the Warriors sorely needed in Game 4.

So what can Golden State do to extend this series?

The Warriors have simply been unable to put together a complete 48 minutes of Warriors basketball. Role players haven’t made shots and the return of big man DeMarcus Cousins hasn’t gone the way the Warriors hoped.

Barring the return of Kevin Durant, who has missed a month with a strained calf muscle, the Warriors look destined to be eliminated by Monday’s Game 5 in Toronto at the earliest. After not being ready to return by Game 4 as projected, all signs point to Durant missing the entire series, which doesn’t help matters for the Warriors in the least.

The Raptors have been the better team in this series –– Games 3 and 4 made that point shockingly obvious. Without Durant, the Warriors lack a player that can create easy scoring opportunities against even the best defender a team can offer.

Toronto is the younger, hungrier, deeper team in this series. Leonard, who is averaging 30.8 points and 10.3 rebounds in this year’s Finals, has shredded the Warriors’ defense time and time again. His combination of strength, ball-handling and footwork make him a matchup nightmare. When the Warriors have managed to get the ball out of his hands, Leonard has found open shooters beyond the arc who have sank daggers all series long. Leonard will undoubtedly win Finals MVP honors if the Raptors can seal the deal. 

Pascal Siakam has proven himself as a difference-maker on the biggest stage. Often forgotten in the Raptors’ success, forward Serge Ibaka broke out for 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting in Game 4 after scoring a total of 18 points in the first three games combined. 

Wave after wave of Raptors’ reinforcements has rendered the shorthanded Warriors practically helpless.

No one saw this coming.

So often in Golden State’s Finals runs, it has found a way to win the games it needed to win. Game 4 was the game the Warriors needed to win –– going back to Toronto with the series tied 2-2 would’ve given the Warriors a psychological boost knowing they would just need to win two games to win a third NBA championship. Instead, Golden State now finds itself on the brink of elimination down three games to one.

Suddenly, the bravado of a team that has been there and done that rings strangely hollow. This won’t be the first dynasty to crumble in the NBA –– think of Magic Johnson’s Showtime Lakers that bowed out to Michael Jordan’s Bulls in 1991 or the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant Lakers against the Detroit Pistons in 2004 or the Miami Heat team Leonard toppled with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 –– but in the modern NBA, this may be the most important one to fall.

The Warriors, who have long been able to prevail in spite of injuries, are now hampered by them at the least opportune time. Like the aforementioned dynasties, the Warriors have been exposed –– older, slower, rickety and inconsistent. Sure, Golden State could rally from a 3-1 deficit and come out on top –– we’ve seen that movie before.

But let’s not ignore the writing on the wall. It’s hard to win one championship, much less three in row –– a feat only achieved by five teams in NBA history. More importantly, for the first time in the five straight years they’ve advanced to the NBA Finals, the Warriors are not the better team.

With a move to San Francisco next season looming, the Warriors could very well not make it back for a curtain call in Oracle Arena in Game 6 –– the oldest venue in the NBA and one the team has called home since 1966.

Of course, Durant could opt to return and run it back with the team he brought two titles to and save the Warriors’ fading dynasty. 

In fact, that would be quite noble after the controversy his move to Golden State brought upon arrival. 

If or when Durant moves on this summer, the Warriors as we know them will need an infusion of fresh blood to pry their championship window open for another run.

Until either team wins four games, this series is not over. History suggests to never underestimate the heart of a champion. But like the many dynasties that have risen and fallen before them, it appears the Golden State Warriors’ magic has finally run out.