Golden State Warriors at Toronto Raptors Game 2 Pick

NBA Finals Game Two

The Toronto Raptors (71-30) will once again host the Golden State Warriors (69-30) for Game Two of the NBA Finals in the Great White North on Sunday, June 2nd, 2019. The game will be televised on ABC for national audiences with a scheduled tip-off time of 8:00 PM ET. Game One went to the Raptors who defeated the two-time defending champion Warriors by a score of 118-109 enabling their fifth consecutive cover when they closed as a two-point favorite.

Golden State Warriors at Toronto Raptors Betting Overview:

Golden State Warriors

Many described Golden State’s offense in Game One as lackluster. After all, this is a basketball team that scored 117.7 points per game (2nd in the NBA) in the regular season and as the greatest shooting team in the history of the NBA. By the Warriors’ standards, Game One was not an impressive performance by the perspective of field goal percentage as they hit just 43.6% of their attempts despite leading the league with a 49.1% field goal efficiency on the year.

Toronto Raptors

For Toronto, the Raptors shot an incredible 50.6% from the field, and they hit 39.4% of their three-point attempts. Conventionally, this is nothing short of a spectacular performance. The Raptors were able to dictate Game One combining this offensive outburst with their stout defensive play. In fact, the Warriors never led by more than a basket at any point in the game.

Reasons to Back Golden State:

To be quite frank, Golden State was set up for a let-down in Game One. Too many backers were banking on the Warriors 18-1 SU record in Game Ones under Steve Kerr as a reason to back the W’s in the Finals opener when the Warriors had a long layover prior to Game One (nine days). Golden State wasn’t playing with a full deck either. All-NBA forward Kevin Durant was out while Center DeMarcus Cousins was playing his first game back from an injury sustained in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Moreover, Forward Andre Iguodala was relegated strictly to a defensive-oriented role which did not promote the offensive operations of Golden State. All the ingredients set up Golden State for an underwhelming outing but given their championship pedigree, I would expect them to make the adjustments they need to level the series.

Reasons to Avoid Toronto:

On the flip-side, Toronto is set up for a let-down. After all, this is a team that has won and covered in five straight and has generated a whole bunch of uproar as a result of their play. The stock on Raptors is now through the ceiling. Nevertheless, the market is reluctant to buy into the verity of Game One as they are pricing Toronto at a nearly identical number to what we saw in the series opener.