NBA Finals: Can the Raptors beat the Warriors?

The NBA Finals start tonight between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors. You might think you know who’s going to win, but do you really know?

This is going to be a much closer series than you would think, as long as Kevin Durant isn’t healthy the whole time (Durant is out for at least game one).

Golden State knows exactly what it’s like to be playing into June. The team has been to five finals in a row, and are looking to win its third championship in a row.

Toronto doesn’t. It’s the franchise’s first finals ever. The fan base went bonkers after realizing the Raptors were going to win game six and the series while in the Air Canada Center. The scenes outside of “Jurassic Park” were insane following the final seconds of game six.

Jurassic Park in Toronto is just different 😤pic.twitter.com/V54n7rMRs5

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 22, 2019

Without Durant, the Warriors play a different style. But Toronto has a counter. Kawhi Leonard has been the best player in the playoffs so far. He’s dominated in every series so far — offensively and defensively.

Golden State uses Stephen Curry a lot more to initiate offense with Durant out, and Toronto has been putting Leonard on the opposing teams initiator.

The major weapon for Toronto is Kawhi can guard any position. He shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler and Blake Griffin. All three are great players and one is of an MVP caliber. Leonard had no problems guarding them. Kawhi held Antetokounmpo to his lowest points per 100 possessions out of anybody this season, and by a wide margin. Curry is a different animal to tackle. But Leonard has the chops to do it.

Let’s be real here, if the sight of Kawhi made LeBron James shout an expletive when he entered a finals game in 2014, Leonard can surely have the same effect on Curry.

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball playoffs Eastern Conference finals in Milwaukee on Thursday, May 23, 2019. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Not to be a victim of revisionist history, but the last playoff game Leonard played against the Warriors saw the Spurs up 21 in the third quarter before Kawhi got injured and missed the rest of the series.

Leonard knows how to beat this team.

The Warriors success depends on the availability of Kevin Durant. Should Durant miss more than three games of this series, I see Toronto winning in seven games. If he’s is back for game three, Golden State will win in six games.

Twitter: @ajlars13