The NBA Finals will tip off Thursday, May 30th, as the Toronto Raptors will host the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors.
It will be an interesting match up to see if the Raptors have the ability to slow down the Warriors who are red hot winning their last 6 games, including a sweep in the Western Conference Finals against the pesky Portland Trail Blazers. They have been very dominant despite the absence of former Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who has been sidelined with a calf injury since the 2nd round series against the Houston Rockets.
It looks like the Warriors are playing like they did when they won 73 games only a couple of years ago before signing Durant. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are reminding us why they are considered the best back court in NBA history.
But they will have a tall task ahead of them as they try to slow down Kawhi Leonard, who has been in a tear this postseason averaging around 31 points per game. Leonard will most likely get defended by Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson who are both world class defenders.
The Raptors are going to need a lot from Leonard if they want to win their first championship. The other guys on the Raptors are going to have to be big if they want to win the series. When they are playing well the Raptors will be competitive in the series but I do not think that will be the case.
I do not think that the Toronto Raptors will have enough firepower to win an NBA Championship. I believe that this series will be quick either 4 or 5 games, I think the Raptors will win one game in Toronto. The Raptors have the ability to steal an early win due to the fact that the Warriors have not played a game in almost a week and a half.
They will need time to break off some of the rust of not playing for a long time but I don’t see that affecting them for that long. The Raptors are coming off two long playoff series and are an older team who has not gotten a lot of rest between series. Leonard is also a little banged up heading into the finals, but who isn’t at this point in the postseason, I think this will also hurt Toronto.
The Warriors are on a roll right now and I don’t see anyone stopping them. It should also be noted that Stephen Curry is 15-2 against the Raptors in his career.