The
Toronto Raptors are in the
NBA Finals for the first time in team history. They’ve ripped off thrilling win after thrilling win, seemingly all of them led by franchise savior
Kawhi Leonard. The excitement for a possible champion is palpable across Canada, particularly in its “Very Famous Rappers” demographic.Las Vegas doesn’t have much faith they’ll go any further.
Immediately after the Raptors wrapped their Game 6 comeback win to take the Eastern Conference finals over the Milwaukee Bucks, Westgate Las Vegas oddsmaker Jeff Sherman tweeted the opening series prices for the NBA Finals.
A -275 money line means Vegas gives the
Golden State Warriors roughly a 73 percent chance to win their third straight title and fourth in five years. Early bettors apparently thought those odds were too low, as Sherman tweeted a new set of odds only seven minutes later.
Despite those long odds, the Warriors are only favored by a single point in Game 1 on the road. Must be faith in that Toronto crowd.
It’s really not hard to see why the Warriors are this heavily favored. They’re the Warriors. Despite missing one of the most gifted scorers in the history of
basketball in Kevin Durant, they swept Portland and are now in their fifth straight Finals. They are facing their first Finals opponent in that span to not feature LeBron James.
Then again, the Raptors faced even longer odds when they fell behind 2-0 to the Bucks. Maybe they have another massive upset in them.