The NBA Finals kick off Thursday night when the Toronto Raptors host the Golden State Warriors in Game 1. Golden State is dealing with several key injuries, and in the video above, FiveThirtyEight breaks down why the Raptors should try to strike early, before the Warriors can field their full team.
TORONTO — We’re finally reaching the end of what’s been a long, somewhat bizarre, landscape-shifting NBA season. And somehow, it feels as if we’re still not fully realizing just how crazy these finals could potentially be. The Warriors, in most people’s eyes, will enter as favorites — something that’s understandable given their talent, their history […]
When Lamar Odom heaved the ball down-court to drain away what seconds remained between the 2010 Los Angeles Lakers and a championship, few realized that it marked the start of a new era. The period that followed was defined by who wasn’t in L.A. that June night: LeBron James. For each of the next eight […]
If our NBA model could talk, here’s what it might say about the NBA Finals: Bleep, bleep, bloop. Based on their accomplishments over the past few seasons, the Golden State Warriors are better than the Toronto Raptors at full strength. However, the Warriors will start the NBA Finals without Kevin Durant, and possibly also without […]
Toronto surprised some sports fans by winning the Eastern Conference over the Milwaukee Bucks — but the FiveThirtyEight NBA predictions model had given the Raptors the edge in that series. As of our taping, our model also had the Raptors as favorites to win the NBA Finals over the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. […]