In the biggest stage experience is king; both the Warriors and Raptors were built for this moment

Over the course of five years, the Warriors have gone from the plucky upstarts, the exciting newcomers, to the hardened, grizzled playoff veterans.

It took them three seven-game series’ and the worst Finals loss of all-time, but Curry and co. are the Finals mainstays that never flinch in the face of adversity.

It’s no surprise that their Finals opponent – the Toronto Raptors, who will have home-court advantage in the series, sending the Warriors on the road in the Finals for the first time in the Kerr era – is the only team that rivals the Warriors’ playoff experience.

Outside of Golden State, there are only a handful of players to play in the Finals (and fewer still to play in multiple Finals), and several – Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Serge Ibaka – are key players on the Raptors.

We saw in the key moments of the pivotal games in each Conference Finals – the second half and overtime in game 2-4 in the West, and the end of Game 3, Game 5 and game 6 in the East – the experience overcoming the talent of the Blazers and the Bucks.

The Bucks, by all accounts, were the best East team all season in the NBA. 60 wins, the best net rating in the league, the MVP frontrunners; but they fell apart in the ECF.

Why? Leonard, Lowry, Gasol and Ibaka have each played in more vital playoff games individually than the entire Bucks team.

Giannis, Middleton and Brogdon – all of whom played well enough to earn All-Star nods in the regular season – played second-fiddle in the fourth quarter to the likes of Brook Lopez and George Hill (the only two key contributors on the Bucks over 30). Meanwhile, Leonard – a former Finals MVP and the Albert Pujols of the NBA – fit with Lowry, Gasol and Siakam on his hip, swung into high gear in late-game situations.

What does all this mean for the Finals? It means the Warriors don’t have the same kind of psychological advantage they would if they were playing the Bucks, who much like the Warriors in 2015, had barely even sniffed contention before this year.

Even last year we saw the moment intimidate some players (the infamous end to Game 1, fit with a missed George Hill free throw and a J.R. Smith play that will live with the likes of Nick Anderson’s missed free throws and Tragic Johnson as great Finals failures). This year, aside from some normal jitters from the likes of Lowry, Siakam and even Gasol, Toronto has the leadership to avoid the mistakes that can make or break a series against an experienced foe.

This Raptors team is similar to the 2015 Cavs. A supernova wing who ran roughshod over the East, barreling through team after team, young superstar after young superstar, with a young star (Siakam) and a veteran big man finally getting a shot at a title (Gasol) and difference-making pieces strewn about (Lowry, Green, Van Vleet, Powell).

The biggest problem for the Raptors becomes – instead of becoming accustomed to the stage – what to do about the Curry-Draymond machine that the Warriors run without Durant.

By all means, it is more than possible that the Warriors blow the Raptors out the water, as they have been doing to every team (besides the Rockets for a brief period) for the last three years. It is reasonable to believe that even with Leonard and his Jordan-like ball-till-your-legs-fall-off mentality, Golden State still has more than enough firepower, playoff experience and overflowing confidence to put the Raptors out in five.

But I have a hard time believing this team of destiny, that has gone through what they have not only this postseason but for many of them the last four or five playoffs, will roll over for the Dubs in the same way that the Rockets have the last two years, the Blazers have forever and the Cavs did in last year’s Finals.

There is no motivation edge for either team either, really. The Warriors are playing to cement themselves as one of the great dynasties off all-time and Curry as one of the great players of all-time, Durant is playing for respect and Cousins is playing to change the perception around him. The Raptors are playing for Toronto and to keep Kawhi, a move that would cement them as the new Cavs of the East, and veritably guarantee them at least a shot at the Finals for the near future.

The stakes are high for either team, and both teams are more than equipped to handle that pressure. It may be the first Finals in a long time where both teams are equally mentally prepared for the moment, and it will hopefully spell great action for everyone involved.

The only thing worse than a Finals blowout is a series decided by fatal mistakes instead of iconic winning moments.

Hopefully, Curry, Kawhi, Thompson, Green, Siakam, Lowry and (god willing) Durant can deliver that in the coming weeks.