One-on-One: Are Warriors really a slam-dunk pick over Raptors in NBA Finals?

Keane: What is the best way for Toronto to deploy Kawhi Leonard against the Warriors? 

Heery: The best way to deploy Kawhi is the Keyshawn Johnson approach: Get him the damn ball. If you snoop around NBA.com's Advance Playoff Stats, you'll notice Kawhi's name popping up near the top of almost every type of offensive play-type, from transition to isolation to pick-and-roll as the ball handler to spot-up shooter. Kawhi's play-making in Games 5 and 6 (he had a total of 16 assists) was impressive, too, and add a new wrinkle to his already unstoppable offensive game. 

On the other end of the court, Toronto is versatile enough defensively to switch along the perimeter until Durant returns (if that even happens). Thus, I don’t expect to see Kawhi lock-in on Steph Curry (like he did last round with Giannis) until late in games. 

From a big-picture perspective, Kawhi’s postseason is entering a pretty special place. For as blazing as some of Max Kellerman's takes are on First Take (most recently, that James Harden, who was a unanimous first-team All-NBA selection, wasn't worthy of a first-team spot), his declaration that Kawhi Leonard is better when it counts than Kobe Bryant might very well prove prophetic this postseason. Kawhi's stats are unbelievable -- 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals per game on 51-39-88 shooting.

I'm not going to bore you with a statistical comparison -- you can play around with that here -- but Kawhi's case, especially when you factor in some of the advanced numbers and efficiency stats, is pretty compelling. (Don’t worry, I’ll be in witness protection program to avoid attacks from Kobe-Stans by the time this is published.)

Heery: Speaking of all-time great playoff performances, KD, and now Steph and Draymond, are doing some pretty amazing things this spring. How do you see this Finals playing out for them? Is Steph finally going to validate (LOL) his status as legendary player with a Finals MVP?

Keane: I’m sorry you had to go into hiding after that Kobe take. Stay away from Temecula! With Kawhi surpassing Kobe levels, in part by actually playing defense, he’s now approaching The LeBron Zone. The best example of the respect LeBron gets in the playoffs is that two players have won Finals MVP for merely slowing him down -– Andre Iguodala in 2015, Kawhi himself in 2014 -– and that was with LeBron averaging 36 points per game and shooting 57 percent in 2014.  

So if the national media really is jumping on the Kawhi bandwagon, that may be opening the door for a Draymond Green Finals MVP. Considering the way he’s been playing on both ends, he’s the Warrior most likely to stifle Kawhi. He also four technical fouls to spend before an automatic suspension, so as long as his usual aggression isn’t blunted by playing in famously polite Toronto ... (Not a single person was arrested in their city-wide celebration last weekend).

As for Steph, the lack of a Finals MVP might be the last remaining piece of ammunition his haters have. They don’t care that he averaged 27/8/9 in the 2017 Finals, or that he holds every Finals record for three-pointers, or even that he scored 37 points closing out the Cavs last year. I think the Warriors will probably win, and Curry will be the biggest reason they do, but I have no confidence that he’ll actually win MVP. He’ll have a game where he goes 3-for-14 from three, even though they win, and he’ll get edged out by Draymond, or a red-hot Klay Thompson shooting streak, or even a hobbled Durant returning from injury to drop 40 points on Toronto. He’s the Susan Lucci of Finals MVP awards, and even though he averages more points against Toronto than any other team, Steph will somehow fall short, even as he gets a fourth ring. 

I’m looking forward to seeing Crying Jordan’s face on the MVP trophy!

Keane: Just like a helping of delicious poutine, predicting the Finals ultimately comes down to your gut. Who is your gut telling you will be the 2019 champs?

Heery: My gut is telling me Raptors in seven -- or maybe that's my wallet (I keep betting the field over the Warriors with a friend every year and I keep losing). My head is telling me Warriors in six. Here's my thing: The NBA is a stars league. The league protects its stars (and rightly so). Stars get more calls than role players. The Dubs have four to six stars on their roster (depending on what you want to classify Boogie and Iggy as). Thus, when there's a 50-50 call on the court, a ref is going to subconsciously give the star the benefit of the doubt. Ergo, if you want to beat the Warriors, you really have to BEAT the Warriors. You can't leave things to chance down the stretch of games like Cleveland often did the past two Finals. I have every bit of confidence that Kawhi won't leave things to chance, but I can't say the same about Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, etc. in their first Finals appearance. 

What's your official prediction?

Keane: I’m also picking the Warriors in six games. Maybe I’ve seen the team win too many 50-50 games the past five years, maybe I trust Klay Thompson more than Kyle Lowry or maybe I just trust that if the NBA is ever going to rig a series for TV ratings, it’ll be against a team whose Canadian ratings aren’t even counted. While it would go against the Dubs’ recent trend of disappointing home playoff fans and clinching series on the road, I think they’ll close out Oracle Arena with a fourth chip.