The 2019 NBA Finals series resumes on Sunday evening when Toronto hosts Golden State in Game 2 of the series. At this present time, NBA betting odds at Bookmaker is showing Toronto as a 2.0-point favorite and the posted total is 215.0.

Recent Series History

The Raptors prevailed in the series opener 118-109 and have now won all 3 games against Golden State this season. Toronto covered that contest as a 2.0-point home favorite and it easily went over the closing total of 212.5.

Since the 2015-2016 NBA regular season began, Golden State has witnessed all 5 of their games at Toronto going over the total. Those 5 contests had an average total of 219.8 and both teams combined to score 240.6 points per game.

Game 1 Recap

Golden State was held to 43.6% shooting in their Game 1 loss at Toronto. That was their worst shooting performance of the postseason. Their previous low was 44.2% which occurred in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Houston.

Toronto shot a red-hot 50.6% in Thursday’s opening game of the series. It marked a first time in 13 games that the Raptors shot 50% or better. It’s also worth mentioning, the Raptors have shot 40% or worse in 5 of its last 13 games.

On the other side of the coin, Golden State is 2-0 SU&ATS during these 2019 NBA Playoffs following a postseason game in which they allowed an opponent to convert on 50% or better of their field goal attempts. The Warriors won those contests by a substantial average victory margin of 23.0 points per game.

Interesting Betting Parameters

Counting postseason action, Golden State is 69-30 for the season. Nevertheless, they’ve sustained 9 of their 30 losses (30%) when their point-spread was +3.0 to -3.0.

Sunday will be the 5th time during these 2019 playoffs that Toronto had a point-spread of +3.0 to -3.0 when playing at home. That seems extremely odd when considering they’re only 3 wins away from being crowned NBA champions. Nonetheless, they’re a perfect 4-0 SU&ATS when cast into that precise role and won by an average of 9.8 points per game.

Warriors off Loss

Golden State is 22-7 straight up this season following a loss. Those past results make it very enticing to jump on Golden State in Game 2, and especially considering they’re currently an underdog. Yet, I dug deeper and discovered Golden State was a dismal 1-4 straight up this season in away games following a road loss, and if their point-spread was +4.0 to 4.0 like it will assuredly be on Sunday.

It’s been well documented that this is a 5th straight year that Golden State has reached the NBA Finals. During the stretch, the Warriors are 15-8 straight up and a profitable 14-9 ATS (60.9%). That includes their series opening loss at Toronto this past Thursday. Considering they won 3 championships over the last 4 years, and its lone failure was against Cleveland in 7 games during the 2017 NBA Finals, I assumed they would be highly successful following a loss. However, they’ve gone just 3-3 straight up during the NBA Finals following a loss.

Noteworthy 2018-2019 Raptors Betting Trends

After falling behind 2-0 in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against Milwaukee, Toronto has rebounded to win and cover each of their next 5 games. Unfortunately for Toronto backers, they’re team has gone just 7-7 straight up and a terrible 2-12 ATS this season after winning 5 or more consecutive games. As a matter of fact, the Raptors are 4-5 straight up and 0-9 ATS during their previous 9 games when thrust into that exact situation.

On a positive note for Raptors supporters, Toronto is an unscathed 5-0 SU&ATS this season at home when their point spread is +2.5 to -6.0, and their total falls between 210.0 to 219.5. Barring something unforeseen, they’ll be well within both of those previously mentioned betting parameters on Sunday.

Conversely, Golden State is 1-6 straight up in their last 7 away games when there’s been a total of 210.0 to 219.5. When bearing in mind their average total for 99 games played this season is 227.6, it becomes crystal clear to me that Golden State has struggled on the road against very good defensive teams. By the way, Toronto has allowed just 97.0 points per during their 2019 home playoff games while holding its opponents to a mere 40.4% shooting.

Final Thoughts
A consensus of major offshore sportsbooks calculated Toronto to be an opening 1.5-point home favorite. They’ve since moved to -2.0 despite 66% of bets and 70% of the money pool being wagered on Golden State. It’s never a bad idea to at the very least consider wagering on reverse line movement or fading public betting trends. That’s particularly true when it comes to NBA Finals betting.

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com