After thousands of games between 30 teams and countless three pointers, slam dunks, and behind the back passes, the culmination of the NBA season is finally here. On May 30th, the Golden State Warriors will play the Toronto Raptors in a best of 7 series for the Larry O’Brien trophy and for the right to be known as 2018-2019 champions. This series will be the first finals since 2010 without LeBron James and the first since 2013 where the Eastern conference has home court advantage. This makes the finals more exciting as since losing star point guard Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers had given the Warriors little competition in the finals. On the other hand, the Toronto Raptors have proven themselves to be legitimate contenders this season. This means that this years finals will once again answer the question that NBA fans have been asking for years: can anybody beat the Warriors?

The Warriors have been the most dominant team in the NBA for the past 5 seasons, winning title after title with their only major loss being a 3-1 collapse against the Cavaliers in the 2016 finals. The Warriors steamrolled the rest of the Western Conference in the playoffs, beating the Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets in 6 games each before sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. However, the Warriors enter this series without 2x MVP Kevin Durant or 4x All Star Demarcus Cousins. Despite this, the Warriors still boast an impressive lineup featuring Steph Curry and Klay Thompson A.K.A the Splash Brothers as well as former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green. The Warriors also have depth on their bench as players such as Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston have been integral parts of several championship Warriors teams. Finally, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is a proven winner who elevated the Warriors from a slightly above average team to a dynasty and has won 8 combined championships as a player and a coach (3 with the Warriors). For these reasons, the Warriors are heavily favored in a championship series with any team.

Entering the playoffs, NBA fans everywhere spectulated on who would come out of the post-LeBron Eastern Conference. Many thought the 76ers midseason trades to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Timberwolves and Tobias Harris from the Clippers would propel them to the finals. Others thought that the Milwaukee Bucks led by All NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo would emerge as a new Eastern Conference dynasty. However neither of these predictions came true as the Toronto Raptors not only won their first round matchup but beat both of these teams to come out of the East.

Entering the season, the Raptors had a reputation for performing well in the regular season(the Raptors made the playoffs each of the last 5 seasons) and then choking in the playoffs (Raptors coach Dwane Casey was fired last season after the Raptors were swept in the first round). However, the Raptors improved in 2 major ways this season. First, power forward Pascal Siakam had a breakout year averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game giving the Raptors a much needed third scoring option. Secondly, the Raptors made a major trade in the offseason to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs. While Leonard is known around the league for his great defense and great clutch performances, there were concerns that Leonard would refuse to play on the Raptors after quitting on San Antonio and demanding a trade. However Leonard more then proved himself in the regular season by being named to the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams. He also elevated the Raptors in the playoffs by locking down Giannis Antetoukounmpo in the Eastern Conference Finals and hitting clutch free throws in game 6 to end the series. While any team would be considered an underdog against the Warriors, the Raptors are poised to give the Warriors their greatest challenge in years as Leonard is a proven threat in the NBA finals as he won the 2014 NBA Finals MVP after dismantling Lebron James and the Miami Heat in 5 games.