Having rested, recovered and prepared for nine days following their 4-0 sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals, the JustBet favourite Golden State Warriors have now begun their NBA Finals quest for a three-peat.

Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors, after losing Games 1 and 2 in the Eastern Conference Finals, took the sting out of the top performing Milwaukee Bucks for four straight games to take the series 4-2 and book their spot (for the first time in franchise history) in the NBA Finals.

The Bucks were on a 10-1 play-off run (up to Game 3) and had not lost three games in a row at any point all season (much less four), but Leonard is playing like a man possessed and had no intention of letting up.

He finished Game 6 with 27 points and 17 rebounds then stoically trod off the floor after the final buzzer, expressionless, with a fist raised briefly in triumph, his only outward show of emotion.

The Raptors’ victory was cemented by contributions from Kyle Lowry (17 points), Pascal Siakam (18 points) and Fred Van Vleet (14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep).

Now, having bettered the team that dominated the Regular Season (and a lot of the play-offs), the Raptors are now faced with a dynasty that has dominated the NBA for a half-decade.

The Warriors were favoured in the past four Finals series, all against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and won three. Two-time reigning Finals MVP Kevin Durant continues to recover from a strained right calf and there is no telling when he will return.

However, Durant missed the last game of the 4-2 series win against the Houston Rockets and all four games of the Portland sweep. Additionally, the Warriors have won 31 of their past 32 games when Stephen Curry plays and Durant does not. They are 34-4 in those games overall.

The Raptors won both meetings against the Warriors this season: A 131-128 overtime victory in Toronto on November 29 and 113-93 in Oakland on December 12.

Added to the fact that they cracked the Bucks’ imposing attack, the Raptors could possibly pose the best team Golden State has ever faced in the championship round.

Truth be told, the disparity in big-game experience between the Bucks and the Warriors is similar to comparing chalk to cheese and therefore the code may be harder to crack in this series. And, while the Raptors may be able to profess like-for-like skills, the glaring difference between these two contenders is experience at this level.

The Golden State core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson have shared 118 play-off games over seven seasons, Andre Iguodala 106 games over six and Shaun Livingston played his 100th post-season game last night. For the Raptors franchise, Game 1 of this year’s NBA Finals was their 101st play-off game spread over 24 seasons.

Still, the Raptors have Leonard, and he helped them beat a Bucks team that was better than everyone all year. He’s playing better now than he did when he won Finals MVP in 2014 with the San Antonio Spurs. His game has taken a massive leap and, when every other Raptor is struggling, he can be called on to deliver.

Then, when an opponent presents an unstoppable offensive force, Kawhi can be called on to check him defensively. It is yet to be seen what Leonard’s presence will mean in a series against the Warriors but, from what has been displayed so far, he can credibly be the best player on the floor at any point in time.

The Raptors fettered and contained the Bucks in the previous series, but the Warriors have been at this level for a while and they have seen some things. They have championship pedigree on their side and, despite not having home court advantage in this series, the pace of their dynamic, ball-sharing court craft could prove too difficult for the Raptors to keep pace — The games should be closely contested but Golden State should emerge champions in 5 or 6 games.

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DATE TIME HOME AWAY02/06/19 19:00 TOR RAPTORS GS WARRIORS Game 2

05/06/19 20:00 GS WARRIORS TOR RAPTORS Game 3

07/06/19 20:00 GS WARRIORS TOR RAPTORS Game 4

10/06/19 20:00 TOR RAPTORS GS WARRIORS Game 5 (if necessary)

13/06/19 20:00 GS WARRIORS TOR RAPTORS Game 6 (if necessary)

16/06/19 20:00 TOR RAPTORS GS WARRIORS Game 7 (if necessary)

101 GS WARRIORS 1.28

JUSTBET NBA CHAMPION 2018-2019

CODE TEAM ODDS

106 TOR RAPTORS 3.00