A Canadian invented basketball. The first NBA game was played in Toronto. But in the days ahead of the Raptors playing host to the first NBA final game played outside the United States, historical ties to the game’s early beginnings haven’t kept Canada’s only NBA team from being installed as heavy underdogs in their impending series with the Golden State Warriors.
And you’ll understand the calculus. This is Toronto’s first time playing for a title. The Warriors are competing in their fifth straight final, gunning for their fourth title during that stretch. And even without the recent services of Kevin Durant, the two-time reigning final MVP who has missed the past five games with a lower leg injury that’s expected to keep him out of the outset of the series, the Warriors made winning the West look easy.