THE mantra for the Golden State Warriors during Steve Kerr’s five seasons at the helm has been “Strength in Numbers”. In this year’s play-offs, that mantra is truly being put to the test.

Since the start of the postseason, Golden State have endured injuries to two all-stars, a super-sub and has now lost Kevon Looney (non-displaced cartilage fracture) for the remainder of the play-offs. With the NBA Finals precariously balanced on a knife’s edge, the defending champions and JustBet favourites will have to rely on the depth of the bench if their hope of a three-peat can be realised.

Game 1 of the Finals saw the Raptors consistently chase Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson off the three-point line and force them into attempting mid-range jumpers and layups.

The Warriors’ game-plan was completely disrupted, and the result was a 118-109 Raptors’ victory. Game 2 saw adjustments by Golden State and, despite being the fifth consecutive game where they trailed by at least 10 points, it was the fourth time they recovered and won. Again scoring 109 points but upping the defensive intensity and restricting the Raptors to 104 points (37 per cent shooting and 15 forced turnovers).

The outcome could have been different had the Raptors not had unfathomable offensive droughts to start the third quarter (leading to an 18-0 run by the Warriors) and to end the fourth quarter. There was even an opportunity during the game’s final seconds before Andre Iguodala, having been left alone at the arc, put the game out of reach. So, instead of being up 2-0, the Raptors lost their home-court advantage and travelled to Oakland where the health of the Warriors (or lack thereof) may be their only hope for success.

The Warriors have been criticised for their lack of depth, but the Game 2 win came mainly on the backs of their role players – Curry had a shaky first half, Looney and Thompson were injured and had to leave the game.

Kevin Durant remains a question mark and therefore players like DeMarcus Cousins (just barely returning from injury himself), Andrew Bogut, Quinn Cook, and Iguodala all had to have huge moments. Thirteen Warriors saw action on Sunday night (only eight for the Raptors) and they accumulated 34 assists on 38 made shots with all 22 made shots in the second half coming off assists.

With their increasingly crippled roster, the Warriors entered Game 3 on Wednesday night without Durant, Looney and, to make matters worse, Klay Thompson. Stephen Curry had a play-off career-high 47 points, but his efforts lacked requisite support and Golden State could only manage 109-points (same score for all three games of the series) which was far below the 123 that the Raptors accumulated. Toronto led for the whole game with balanced, double-digit scoring from their core: Kawhi Leonard had 30 points, Kyle Lowry scored 23, Pascal Siakam and Danny Green each had 18 and Marc Gasol contributed 17. The Raptors made 17 3-pointers in their victory and took advantage of their underhanded opponents to go up 2-1 in the series.

The winner of Game 3 in a tied NBA Finals wins the series 82% of the time and, with the victory, the Raptors restored their home-court advantage. However, based on recent indications, the return of Durant and Thompson for Game 4 this evening is highly possible and the shape of the series will shift if that happens. The Warriors are playing their final season in Oakland and will play in a new San Francisco arena next year. It’s hard to imagine them not closing this chapter with a championship and, with the resilience they have shown so far, it would still be foolhardy to bet against them.

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DATE TIME HOME AWAY

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

10/06/19 20:00 TOR RAPTORS GS WARRIORS Game 5

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)

JUSTBET NBA CHAMPION 2018-2019CODE TEAM ODDS

102 GS WARRIORS 1.30

101 TOR RAPTORS 3.20