Finals Live Thread: Warriors @ Raptors, Game 1

It’s that special time of the year, the NBA Finals. They feel different though this go around. This year, for the first time in eight , the kid from Akron isn’t making an appearance. This year, for the first time in four, the Cavs aren’t in it. And, the Warriors don’t have home court advantage. As the Notorious B.I.G. once said, “Things done changed.”

As Cleveland natives or sympathizers, we no longer have a rooting interest outside of the Raptors beating the only team to ever lose with a 3-1 lead, you know, the Warriors. Because, never forget history and grudges.

Anyways, here are some predictions for this year’s Finals from the Cavs: The Blog staff.

David Wood: Raptors in 7. The Warriors are still damn good, as evidenced by their destruction of the Blazers, sans Kevin Durant. But, the Raptors are just good enough defensively to give them a hard time. Kawhi Leonard might be the only guy in the league who can theoretically frustrate both Stephan Curry and Durant. Danny Green works well on Klay Thompson. He has that Spurs’ focus off the ball. Pascal Siakam can give it a go on any players the Warriors throw on the floor. The Warriors will finally face a team that can stop with them, and they’re down one of their best players. Sound familiar? Remember the 2015 Cavs taking the Warriors to six without both Irving and Love. Just like that series, I think the team that probably should win doesn’t. Good luck goes away. We finally see a series.

This is my illogical non basketball view: When I think of the Warriors, I always think of the movie with that title. I then immediately picture Curry and Green as members of the Punk gang because they’re punks, and I could never ever associate them with the actual innocent Warriors gang. As best as I can recall, the Punk gang all had on overalls. That is just not a good look if you’re taking on the Raptors, who I imagine as their name suggests would just be flying dinosaurs. Imagine the length of Siakam’s dino-talons. Those overalls the Warriors wear would provide the perfect straps for any Raptor to pick them up by and then promptly drop to the ground for victory. If we extend this exercise of judging teams based on their names, it sort of makes sense that the Cavs only prevailed once against the Warriors. In previous seasons, the matchup of a Punk vs. a Cavalier wasn’t that even. Think flick blade knives and bats going up against muskets. The musket is just too slow. This year the illogical matchup isn’t even close to being even.

Nate Smith: I know I picked Dubs in six on the pod, but I’m going full on 2007 Cavs here. Listen. The Bucks were a point from being up 3-0, but they couldn’t do it. Why? Cuz their non-freak players couldn’t hit shots. Playoff Draymond is pretty much playing like the the bowling ball version of Giannis in transition, and while I like Brogdon an awful lot, Klay and Steph are vastly superior to Brogdon and Middleton as shooters, especially in the clutch. Point Donkey will find them. Add in Iggy>>>Bledsoe and the fact that Kerr isn’t going to run the same dopey ball screen oriented sets over and over again and let Nick Nurse outcoach him, and it’s gonna be a boat race. The Bucks should’ve won that series but absolutely melted down. Golden State will do no such thing.

The Dubs, and especially Dray will be playing not to beat the Raptors, but to embarrass them. Why? Because embarrassing the Raptors is the best way for Dray to drive home the point to KD that the Warriors absolutely do not need him and his petulance. The Raps will try to go full Delly on Curry and try to make everyone else beat them. They will. This years’ MVP will be Draymond Green.

Benjamin Werth: As much as I would love to pick the Raptors in 7, I will be boringly pragmatic and take the Dubs in 6. If the Raptors can maintain their defensive discipline, they absolutely are good enough to win the championship. Well, assuming their role players hit open shots, that is. Fred VanFleet isn’t likely to shoot as well as he did in the Eastern Finals, but then Danny Green isn’t as likely to shoot as terribly either. I think this will be a terrifying series for Steve Kerr. Playing Durant before he is completely healthy is probably a must against a talented Raptors team. It also could be the wrong decision. If the Raps win Game 1, I will immediately regret my pick.

Eli Kim: Warriors in 6. The Raptors will benefit from their home court advantage and KD not being fully healthy. I predict the Dubs will at least split the first two games and then the other game they lose will be when KD comes back and throws off the chemistry a little bit. As much of a cool story VanFleet is, there’s literally only one player on the court he can guard (Steph) and even that is a mismatch. The Raptors are also very “big-centric” with Siakam, Ibaka, and Gasol probably being the three best players after Kawhi and Lowry and everyone knows how the Warriors can exploit bigs (so look for whoever VanFleet guards to be in a pick and roll).
If Anunoby comes back healthy and Danny Green gets out of his slump, there’s a chance it could go to 7 but as currently constructed, the Raptors don’t have the requisite matchups to win (even at full strength). Maybe Kawhi can slow down Durant when he comes back, or put Steph in some tough situations, but who is going to guard Klay/Draymond? Who will Lowry guard if Kawhi guards Steph for some portions (a 7 inch taller Klay or Draymond or do they try to hide him on Iguodala?). The matchups are just not in the Raptors favor (or really anyone’s favor in the NBA).

Tom Pestak: Warriors in 5 without Durant.

Justin May: I’m taking the Raptors in 7. Why? Because someone needs to and I’m tired of the Warriors. I mean, who isn’t? But for real, KD could be way more hurt than any of us might expect. A strained calf is no joke depending on its severity. If he can’t go for a chunk of the series then Kawhi won’t be stopped. I actually like that the Raptors are “big-centric”. We’ve seen a blueprint for what can beat the Warriors. Slowing things to a crawl and junking things up is the Raptors’ best shot at getting the trophy. It will allow them to work through screens to get Steph on Kawhi and Kawhi will feast.