Golden State will take on a whole country. And that country has been waiting.
Courtesy: The Players Tribune
The Toronto Raptors have made NBA history. It took nearly a quarter-century to do it, but the Toronto franchise has finally won the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Heading now to the Finals for the very first time, “We The North” will make history again. For the first time, an NBA championship game will be played outside of the U.S.
What a contrast!
For Golden State, it’s the ‘same old, same old.’ This team has been there, done that, and done it multiple times, too. It’s the Warrior’s fifth consecutive trip to the Finals–this time without Kevin Durant. But, hey, even that isn’t new!
Durant won’t play in Game 1 and Boogie Cousins is questionable. That means the Warriors’ load will be carried by those who have been carrying this team through the playoffs: Curry, Thompson, and Green. (Sounds like a law firm, doesn’t it?)
On the other side of the court, the Raptors have LEONARD! Yes, Toronto has talent on its bench, but make no mistake about it: Kawhi is the star. He got this team to where they are and haven’t been before.
What’s interesting about the match-up is that the Raptors got the better of the Warriors in two regular season games played this year. But, as we all know, the Warriors are a very serious group come playoff time.
But, still, I see three reasons why this may be the toughest series (of all recent Finals series) for the Warriors.
First, the Raptors have more depth than the Warriors.
Two, Golden State doesn’t have home-court advantage. Toronto will host Game 7 if the series goes that far.
Three, while the Raptors don’t have Finals experience as a team, two key players do, namely, Leonard (a Finals MVP) and Danny Green. Serge Ibaka has been there, too.
Courtesy: YouTube.com
But before I go overboard looking at the Raptors’ positives, I need to keep in mind something important. The Warriors have ‘the guy,’ Steph Curry, who has been (and always seems to be) a scoring machine (averaging 35.8 ppg in his last games).
The Raptors will have trouble guarding Curry (nothing new there), including containing the pick-and-roll with Draymond Green. And both Green and Thompson have stepped up their games at just the right time (without Durand).
Yes, there’s a lot to be said about this being a Curry v. Leonard series, but I think the games will offer more than that. Look for the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam to be the X factor for his side.
But (honestly) if either Durant or Cousins returns, it’s a wrap for “We The North.” Or could the unexpected happen? Would a return mess up the flow of an offense that (up until now) just can’t be stopped? Well, we’ll find out.
Bottom line: Warriors 4, Raptors 2.
(And, BTW, Drake will continue to be annoying during the NBA Finals.)
