Getty The Warriors and Raptors will square off in the 2019 NBA finals.
The Golden State Warriors will take on the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA finals. The Warriors-Raptors series starts on Thursday, May 30 in Toronto. According to FanDuel, the Warriors are favored to win the series at -380, while the Raptors are underdogs with +230 odds to win the title. The Bucks would have had slightly greater odds at +175 if they had advanced. The Warriors will start out the series on the road for the first two games since the Raptors had a better regular season record.
Golden State opened as a one-point road favorite in the Game 1 spread and the over-under is 215.5, per FanDuel. Toronto had success against Golden State during the regular season. The Raptors won both matchups against the Warriors, but the two contests came within a month of each other on November 29 and December 12. Kawhi Leonard was absent from their most recent matchup. Kyle Lowry had 23 points and 12 assists in Toronto’s December win. Serge Ibaka also had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.
Leonard did play against the Warriors in the team’s initial matchup. Leonard had 37 points and eight rebounds, while Kevin Durant dropped 51 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort. Draymond Green has already let it be known that he is not worried about Drake.
“Drake can’t shoot,” Green said, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “Nor can he pass. You ever seen Drake play basketball? I saw a couple highlights. They wasn’t so high. So I really don’t care.”
Five Thirty Eight’s projections actually give the Raptors a 46 percent chance to win the title, while the Warriors have a 41 percent to win.
Here is a look at the NBA finals schedule.
NBA Finals Schedule 2019
Here is a look at the projected NBA finals schedule, per Sports Media Watch.
| DATE | GAME | TIME(ET)/TV CHANNEL |
| Thurs., May 30 | Warriors vs. Raptors Game 1 | 9 p.m. ABC |
| Sun., June 2 | Warriors vs. Raptors Game 2 | 8 p.m. ABC |
| Wed., June 5 | Raptors vs. Warriors Game 3 | 9 p.m. ABC |
| Fri., June 7 | Raptors vs. Warriors Game 4 | 9 p.m. ABC |
| Mon., June 10 | Warriors vs. Raptors Game 5 | 9 p.m. ABC |
| Thurs., June 13 | Raptors vs. Warriors Game 6 | 9 p.m. ABC |
| Sun. June 16 | Warriors vs. Raptors Game 7 | 8 p.m. ABC |
The Warriors Enter the NBA Finals Well-Rested
When the NBA finals begin, Golden State will have had nine days off since they last played a playoff game. The team admitted they wanted to sweep the Western Conference Finals so they could get healthy for the title series. As for the Raptors sweep of the Warriors, Steph Curry noted back in December that it would have no bearing on the NBA finals if the two teams met again.
“We’ll remember what it’s like playing against them, but it’s 0-0 from here,” Curry said, per Bleacher Report. “The sweep doesn’t mean nothing in terms of when the lights are the brightest on the biggest stage in the playoffs. Everything’s different. We’ll remember how tonight was. It’s a tough vibe, but they don’t get any extra points if we were to face them in the Finals.”
As for the Raptors, the team just won four straight games in the Eastern Conference Finals to come back from a 2-0 deficit against the Bucks. The Warriors could also be without Kevin Durant for part of the series, who is likely to miss the beginning of the finals.