The Golden State Warriors will look to keep their championship hopes alive with a victory Thursday as they return home for Game 6 of the NBA Finals as 2.5-point favorites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Golden State staved off elimination from a playoff series for the first time since 2016 by posting a narrow 106-105 win in Game 5, and will aim to tie the series at three games apiece with a win in Thursday night’s Raptors vs. Warriors betting matchup at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors demonstrated their veteran grit in Monday’s win as 1-point road underdogs. The team maintained its composure despite seeing the return of Kevin Durant cut short by a devastating injury to his Achilles tendon that forced him to undergo surgery Wednesday.
Golden State also maintained its composure after seeing a 14-point lead evaporate in the second half, and has been rewarded on the NBA championship odds, where it has closed the gap on the Raptors and now sit as improved +215 underdogs after tumbling to a +375 wager following the 105-92 loss in Game 4 as 5-point home chalk.
The two-time defending champions have also enjoyed regular success in low-scoring contests. The Warriors have compiled a 12-1 straight-up record in their past 13 outings when the point total has gone UNDER, including a 7-1 SU mark so far in this year’s playoffs.
However, the team has struggled to produce consistent results at the sportsbooks, going 9-11-1 against the spread in 21 playoff contests, covering in consecutive outings just once during that stretch.
That’s good news for the Raptors, who look to close out the series and claim their first NBA title in franchise history with a victory on Thursday. Toronto has enjoyed steady success at Oracle Arena this season, recording SU wins in all three regular-season and playoff matchups, and snapping a 13-game SU road losing streak against the Warriors that dated back to 2004.
The Raptors have also emerged as a dominant road squad as the NBA playoffs have progressed, winning outright in each of their past three outings, and have seized the occasion when poised to clinch a series with a Game 6 win on the road, posting SU wins in three of their past four.
And while the Raptors look to Game 6 as betting underdogs, they continue to hold the edge as favorites on the NBA championship odds where they are pegged as -260 chalk, well ahead of the +230 odds they sported entering the NBA Finals.
