Follow @SBTSportBetting [Get Exclusive Tips on our Patreon, Ad-Free]
Last night, the NHL Stanley Cup champion was crowned as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Boston Bruins. It was the St. Louis Blues first ever championship win. Could we see another team hoist the championship for the first time in franchise history tonight?
The Warriors clawed back with a win in game five, thanks in part to a huge performance in the first quarter from Kevin Durant. By now, everyone should know how that story ended and he won’t be here to help them today. The Raptors came back and nearly won things before a disastrous final two minutes. They’ll get their chance to right the ship and hoist the trophy today.
For the Warriors, this will be the last ever game in the Oracle Arena. The place that has rocked for some many great playoff games over the years. It’s hard to imagine the Warriors letting that place go out on the memory of another team hoisting the championship, but who knows if that’s up to them at this point with all the injuries they’ve had.
As always, we’re rooting for game seven and more basketball but tonight could very well be the end.
Graeme: Game 5 between the Toronto Raptors vs Golden State Warriors was quite the game.
It’s one of those games where all the headlines and analysis are not about the gameplay itself. Instead it is about Durant’s injury, the fans reaction, the timeout at the end, whether Durant should have played etc etc
What about the game itself?
Raptors seemed off all game. If it wasn’t for the KD injury I have no doubt that would have ended up a blowout victory for the Warriors. Or if Stephen Curry would just realize that hey he can’t get EVERY three pointer in – that let the Raptors back into the game. His run of misses combined with Kawhi getting hot out of nowhere and it almost cost the Warriors the game.
The Raptors struggled big time with the 3 pointers in this game. Warriors also hit a whopping 48%.
There’s a lot of narrative thinking the Warriors will be fired up for this one however I don’t know if that’s the case. They’ve had plenty of times to get fired up and it just isn’t happening.
Raptors overall had a bad performance. Pascal Siakam ghosted everyone all night.
It’s really a case of the Raptors here – do they perform that badly again? I can’t see it. And even though they performed badly, they still came within a whisker of winning that game.
Despite the narrative, the Raptors didn’t “choke” nor did Lowry. They just had a bad game yet still almost won. I can’t see that performance repeating itself.
https://www.Bovada.lvRaptors +2.5
Vin: I’m really of two minds about this game. On the one hand, the Raptors have outplayed the Warriors anytime that Kevin Durant hasn’t been on the floor. They nearly won game five and probably would’ve if it wasn’t for the worst timeout possible and a bad end of the game from their team. They are looking like the better team as the Warriors injury woes have just been too much.
On the other hand, that win was the win of a tough team that has been here before. They really dug deep in those final minutes and pulled one out of a hat. They are still outmatched in the series, but at the same time I can’t picture them going 0-3 at Oracle. I can’t see them ending their years of play in Oakland with a sweep of their home games. That’s just… insane.
So, I really don’t know what to think here. The Raptors are most likely going to win the NBA Championship and the Warriors are going to lose this one, but I just can’t go for it to tonight. The Warriors have proven time and time again that they can show up in a big moment and this is just about the biggest moment of all-time. We are yet to see that Klay Thompson game where he carries his team like no other. That could swing it. We have had a dominant series from Stephen Curry as he’s shown just exactly how tough he is. I just can’t count these guys out right now even though my brain says that this series is over.
https://www.Bovada.lvBet Warriors -2.5
