Most are saying it’s one of the biggest mismatches in NBA Finals history. The Golden State Warriors are looking to for their third consecutive championship (first since the Lakers did it in 2000-02) and fourth in five years.
By @thechadcooper
At least it’s a new opponent for the Warriors and not LeBron and the Cavaliers. It’s the first time the Raptors have played in the NBA Finals and have the 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Add Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol and the Raptors give the GSW a different matchup to contend with.
The Warriors are -300 favorites to win the Finals, while the Raptors are +240. If you think Golden State wins, your going to have to put up $300 just to win $100.
If the Warriors do win, they will likely do it without Kevin Durant, who has already been ruled out of Game 1 Thursday night in Toronto.
In all honesty, I don’t know if the Warriors want KD coming back for the series, especially with all the KD to NY Knicks rumors have been swirling since the all-star break.
The Warriors have a chip on their shoulders. They proved they could win without him…remember they won the 2015 Finals when he played for Oklahoma City then wanted to buy some rings by jumping ship. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if KD doesn’t play 1 minute in the Finals.
If the Raptors win Game 1, he mysteriously may get better overnight. He’s as good as gone.
And for Pete’s sake it was a calf strain that happened three weeks ago. I’ve gone to town with a kidney stone.
KD has missed a total of 45 games in three years in Oakland and the Warriors haven’t missed a beat. Hell, they took care of the Houston Rockets after he went down with a calf injury and swept the Trailblazers in the Western Conference Finals. They are 7-0 in the playoffs when KD doesn’t play. Unreal.
Golden State is 35-10 without him. That’s what happens when you have a loaded roster. Their point production does drop, though. And, the under is 25-13 (65.8%) without KD so my bet in Game 1 will be UNDER 214 points.
The spotlight will be back on Curry like it was in 2015. Without KD, Steph is the heavy chalk favorite to win Finals MVP (I will likely take a stab at Klay Thompson 20-1 MVP). Curry lit up Portland with 36.5 points per game in that series and will rely heavily on the pick-and-roll with Draymond Green – something the Rockets had no idea how to stop.. If Toronto can sniff this out with Kyle Lowry, Danny Green and Siakam, this series will be very, very interesting.
No pressure is heavier on one player than Kawhi Leonard. He will be a free agent in about a month, but could write himself in the record book as the player who took down the Warriors…Something James Harden couldn’t do.
In fact, GSW head coach Steve Kerr met with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich last weekend for dinner and it wasn’t to discuss how much they would be donating to the Trump 2020 campaign. It was a devious plan on how to stop Kawhi, who played for Pop in San Antonio.
It was more like two schoolgirls gossiping about ex-boyfriends who broke their hearts.
Game 1 line opened Warriors as -1.5 point favorites and that has since swung to Toronto -1. Golden State as an underdog? Dangerous. I don’t know if Vegas is baiting us or not. We will find out in Game 1 if Toronto is a contender or pretender.
Just imagine how more annoying Drake will be if the Raptors pull this off.
Four more months of the “Kiki do you love me” bullshit. Dude is the textbook definition of a bandwagon fan. He has tattoos of both Steph and KD on his arm – “30 Gifted” and “35 Snipe.”
No, Kiki does not love you.