The reigning NBA champions Golden State Warriors will finish their short road trip in Denver, where they’ll face the playoff-hopeful Nuggets. It’s a head-to-head clash between two terrific offenses, so brace yourself for breaking of the scoreboard.
Warriors at Nuggets
Spread: Golden State -7.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 229.5 points (-110)
The Warriors mirror their postseason success in San Antonio
The Golden State Warriors won by 20 points in San Antonio, so those of you who hadn’t watched the game would think that it was a blowout. It wasn’t. Well, the Spurs wouldn’t threaten at the end, but it was a hard fought win that required great focus and maximum effort from the champions. As a perfect mirror-image of the first game in the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors had to dig themselves out of a 19-point first half deficit, and thanks to Spurs being shorthanded again, they pulled the comeback by the midpoint of the third quarter. Once they managed to pull back, the Spurs had no energy left and couldn’t sustain the level of play as long as the Warriors did.
The defense played a key part of the victory. Possibly mementoed to the postseason level of play due to the opposition and the situation, the Warriors played with precision, grit, and attention to details on the defensive end. After falling back 31-12 in the first quarter during which they’ve allowed the Spurs to shoot 48 percent, they’ve held them to 35 percent shooting the rest of the day. They allowed 6 treys in the first quarter, and only a single one in the next three. A part of it was the Spurs usual struggle shooting the ball, but the Warriors defense extrapolated it. Offensively, the key period of the game was probably the last two minutes of the first quarter. The Warriors needed 10 minutes to scored 12 points, and managed to add another 12 points in those two minutes, helped by Steph Curry’s two late three-pointers. Curry finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. The other Splash Brother, Thompson, led all scorers with 27 points and 5 triples, while Kevin Durant shook a terrible start to the game (he missed his first 8 attempts) to end with an excellent 9-of-18 shooting, 24 points and 3 blocks. The Warriors blocked season-high 11 shots. They’ve also shot better than 50 percent from the field and distributed the ball well, ending up with 30 assists. For the second consecutive game, they’ve also held their turnovers in check, finishing with 14.
After the game in Denver, the Warriors return home to play four games at the Oracle Arena, mostly against some average teams.
Place: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Date/Time: Saturday, November 4th, 2017. 9:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: ALTITUDE, NBCSBA
Denver finally enjoying the season
The addition of Paul Millsap supposed to propel the Denver Nuggets to the playoffs, but there was little evidence of that early on. The Nuggets improved defensively a bit, but their offense sputtered. The players didn’t see to have fun like they did in the previous season. Moving on from veteran playmaker Jameer Nelson seemed foolish, as the Nuggets were left without any backcourt player who can run the offense with a clear vision of where it’s heading. Still, the Nuggets fought through the starting period and have emerged from it stronger. They’ve now won three one the last four, but the 129-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors was most telling. Having scored with more ease in the recent games, the team has now looked more relaxed and, at the same time, more determined.
It was not the first game Millsap played well, but in this game, he looked very much as a primary scoring option he can be at the times of need. It took some pressure off Jokic, and the Raptors wouldn’t know where and how to defend. The game was essentially over by the sixth-minute mark in the third quarter, when the Nuggets opened up an 80-56 lead. It would to a 37 lead the most, before the Raptors reserves made it more bearable during the garbage time. Millsap scored 20 points and was 3-of-4 behind the arc, setting the tone for an all round excellent shooting by Denver players. Murray and Harris each scored three treys from five attempts and Barton added four treys from six tries, as the Nuggets shot 50 percent from deep as a team. Jokic missed a triple-double by not scoring enough points, as he finished with 8 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in just 30 minutes of playing time. The defense was not great, even during the first three quarters. There were numerous straight line penetrations that the Nuggets halfheartedly protected, and many open shots from the perimeter that luckily clanked off the rim. This gave the game, even more, impression that the old Nuggets are back.
The Nuggets are healthy at this moment, but it’s worth noting that they play the Miami Heat tonight, so you might want to check on the team news after this game. Having a difficult opponent on the front end of the back-to-back and then hosting the champions, it’s a difficult setting, but at least they don’t have to travel.
Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets Game Trends & Prediction
The Warriors finally managed to return on investment, and at the right time. Yours truly picked them to be profitable in the last two games, as the value suddenly emerged. Golden State is still a team you want to handle with care, as the books are always trying to fade any value on them. After two ATS wins and improving of their overall record to 3-6, they won’t wait much longer. Still, they don’t mind playing away from home, where they’ve managed to be in the plus with 3-2 ATS record. After three overs in a row, the game in San Antonio stayed below the line, but only due to the Spurs losing interest in the final quarter. Against the total points lines, the Warriors played 6 overs and 3 unders.
The Nuggets have failed to meet expectations as well. They are 3-5 ATS to start this season with, but have covered twice in the last three. The resurgence of their offense has been most obvious by the fact that they eclipsed the total points line three times in a row, after not previously doing it from the start of 2017/18.
Admi-Rank: With a couple of nice wins, each of the rivals managed to get back a part of what was lost during a slow start. The Warriors are untouchable at the top, so it’s quite a large margin whomever they play against. Denver could narrow this gap a bit over time, as the room for improvement in Golden State is really slim.
The last time these two team met in Denver in February, the Warriors were run off the court. But more than the fact they lost 132-110, they remember the bad day for the 52-27 rebounding margin that the Nuggets held. There aren’t many places where the Dubs want to perform well to help erase the memory of a terrible game. Despite the Nuggets playing with not days rest, it’s not going to be a walk in the park for Golden State.
The visiting team has been set as a 7.5-point favorite at the market opening, which is a fair number if you go only as the math models tell you. However, having such a solid handicap on a team that can score at practically same ease as the Warriors shouldn’t be passed. While my previous picks were on the Warriors, I’m going with the home team here. The total line has been set at 229.5 points. Considering that the Warriors started playing defense, it might scare you away, but should not. Go with the over points for the double profit.
My Pick: Denver +7.5 (-110)
Total: Over 229.5 points (-110)
