Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors: Game Preview, Prediction

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If the NBA regular season ended today, Friday’s tilt between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors would feature the two No. 1 overall seeds heading into the playoffs. The reigning champion San Antonio Spurs are trudging along at the seventh seed, and all the hype generated by LeBron James’ homecoming was good enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers to have the fifth-best record in the lowly Eastern Conference.

Rookie head coach Steve Kerr has his Warriors steaming along with a league-leading +9.8 points per game point differential and the Raptors, even without starting shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, are second at +8.0 PPG. The odd thing is that even with their records and statistical performance this year, only the Warriors are considered legitimate title favorites. This speaks to how fans view the first couple months of the regular season.

Sure, there have been more than 30 games of sample size to draw from, but most see October, November and December as an extended preseason. Now, however, is when games get more interesting.

So, a game between the two best teams to this point should move the needle, shouldn’t it? ESPN says no. They instead opted for the the college football bowl season. If you don’t live in Northern California or Canada or don’t have NBA League Pass, you’re out of luck.

In terms of the actual matchup, both teams have serious question marks. Golden State is still without their defensive anchor, Andrew Bogut, and 15 of Toronto’s 24 wins have come against the aforementioned eastern conference.  If they want us to take them more seriously, they’ll have to answer said questions Friday night.

I think Golden State will take care of business at home in front of a great crowd. I do think it’ll be a close game, as Toronto’s strong frontcourt will have a sizeable advantage.

Final score prediction: Toronto 102, Golden State 107

Anthony F. Irwin is an NBA, NFL, MLB and NCAA Football contributor for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. Send him an email at . 

 

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