After four years of watching the Golden State Warriors face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, we get to see something new: It’ll be the Toronto Raptors squaring off against Golden State, and this time, the Eastern champions have home-court advantage. Game 2 of this seven-game series will tip off Sunday night at 8 PM ET on ABC.
The Warriors are heavily favored to retain their title, although this matchup looks closer on paper than the NBA lines would suggest. Golden State are available at –280 on the series prices at press time, and –1 on the point spreads for Thursday’s opener (9 PM ET, ABC) in Toronto; however, Kevin Durant has been ruled out for Game 1 with his strained calf, while DeMarcus Cousins is officially listed as questionable as he continues to recover from the ruptured quad he suffered in the first round.
Toronto is the healthier team going into this series, with OG Anunoby (appendectomy) their only player on the sidelines – he may be back in time for Game 4. The Raptors won both of their regular-season games with Golden State at 1-1 ATS, and that was well before the trade for Marc Gasol.
