The Toronto Raptors can take a commanding 3-1 series lead in their NBA Finals clash with the Golden State Warriors when they hit the hardwood for Game 4 on Friday as 4.5-point road underdogs on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto rebounded from a disappointing 109-104 loss as 2.5-point home chalk in Game 2 with a stellar performance in the team’s first road game of the series, routing Golden State 123-109 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead into Friday night’s Raptors vs. Warriors betting matchup at Oracle Arena.
The Raptors exploited the injury plagued Warriors with a balanced attack in Game 3. Kawhi Leonard led all Raptors shooters with 30 points, and has now scored 30 or more points 13 times so far in this year’s playoffs. In addition, all five Toronto starters tallied at least 17 points while limiting the Warriors to just 39.6 per cent from the field.
With the win, the Raptors have posted consecutive victories on the road for the first time since the first round, and have rewarded bettors with against the spread victories in six of seven overall contests. And the Raptors have also reclaimed home-court advantage in the series, and find themselves deadlocked with the Warriors at -110 on the NBA championship odds.
With Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson sidelined by injury, Stephen Curry turned in a valiant effort in the absence of his superstar teammates, racking up a game-high 47 points to lead all scorers in Game 3. Curry had little help from the team’s starters, with Draymond Green emerging as the only other Warriors player to top 11 points as the team suffered its worst loss on home court during this year’s playoffs.
Durant has been ruled out for Friday night, while Thompson is expected to return to action.
Trailing 2-1 in a series is nothing new for the Warriors. The team has been forced to rebound from a 2-1 series deficit on three occasions during Steve Kerr’s tenure as head coach, including a six-game victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals, and a Western Conference Finals victory over the Houston Rockets a year later.
However, the Warriors have not won a series during their current five-year dynasty when losing more than one game on home court. In addition, Golden State must now find a way to win at Scotiabank Arena, where it has lost three of four, and it has also covered just three times in its last 12 overall meetings with the Raptors at online sports betting sites.
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