It’s a high profile matchup between two very good teams that will likely compete for the Pacific division title when the Los Angeles Clippers will see the championship team of the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
Warriors at Clippers
Spread: Warriors -5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: Over/under 221.5 (-110)
The Warriors keep finding ways to win
Disrespect of others and not being able to perform at the level they used to, those two things combined to frustrate the Warriors. However, even with the struggle to stay at the same level as the years before, at least temporarily, the Warriors are still winning. They stringed three wins, two of which handed to real challengers. They do have to play the tired Detroit Pistons, who pulled an upset against the Clippers, before facing Griffin and company themselves. Previous to it, the came back from way behind to top the Washington Wizards, 120-117.
It was in this game that the pressure caused Draymond Green to overreact to Beal holding him and they both got ejected by the end of the first half. It was another slow start to a game, as the Warriors trailed by 14 points and had just enough time to turn the game around behind Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Durant finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 dimes, while Curry added 20. Neither has shot too well, especially Curry, who was short on most of his 13 three-point attempts. The Warriors somehow withstood 45 percent shooting on threes of the Wiz to their own 26 percent, digging deep to their bench for help. This season, the Warriors are playing almost equally well on offense like before, but their defense has been missing. They score NBA-best 120 points per game, but are giving up 114.2 points to their opposition, fourth worst in the league. Their steals are down, their turnovers way up, and coach Kerr is not pleased with their fitness.
Green is facing a possible suspension for the game against the Pistons tonight, but the Warriors will get back Shaun Livingston, who was absent from the last game to take care of a personal matter. I highly doubt that Green gets suspended for more than a single game, so Golden State team should feature a full squad in Los Angeles, unless someone gets hurt tonight.
Place: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Date/Time: Monday, October 30th, 2017. 10:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBATV
The Clippers lose calm, lose a game
There are no undefeated, nor winless teams in the NBA. The Clippers were the last one to lose a game, and that’s exactly what they did – they lost a game. The Detroit Pistons did win one, the Clippers hit a brick wall and remained unconscious for the game’s end. When they woke up, the scoreboard was saying: LAC 87 DET 95. This must have felt odd, as they thought they won. They were up 70-57 with about 17 minutes to play. What happened in the final stretch is beyond explanatory.
Coach Doc Rivers blames it on poor team chemistry, finger pointing and not playing together. The players didn’t see it this way, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Still, it would seem odd that a team who had won their previous four games implode like that. The leadership was missing, and that’s where the Clippers are hurt the most by trading Chris Paul. It’s much easier to be a leader when things are running smoothly and your game is there to back you up. Griffin still has to learn how to be one when things go downhill like they did on Saturday. It wasn’t all his fault, but he and Gallinari played terribly. Griffin did have a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds but has hit only 5-of-18 shots, most of which were results of poor selection and being stagnant without the ball. Gallinari was 4-of-16, including 3-of-10 from the downtown, and he was a large hole in the Clippers defense. The best player for the game was Austin Rivers, who showed no lingering effects on the dislocated pinky to score 20 points on 12 shots and stole 4 balls. The Clippers shot just 28-of-84 for the game and an abysmal 20 percent with just 2 freebies over the last 17 minutes that had cost them the game.
Whether there’s more to what’s Rivers been saying, remains to be seen, but the Clippers can take a quarter off if they want to parry the Warriors.
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Clippers Game Trends & Prediction
The Warriors might not be at the top their game but are still winning. Of course, it’s not enough for those betting the against the spread. Prior to the game against Detroit, the Warriors are 1-5 ATS, and 1-2 when away from home. They also 4-2 against the over/under, which the last five games alternating between the outcomes.
The Clippers were much kinder to their backers, so hopefully, you were among them. In five games so far, the Clippers have gone 4-1 against the spread, with the last game cutting an end to the nice four-game win streak. They are profitable on the under side as well. Against the total points lines, the Clippers are 0-5, and under streak continues further to the last season.
Admi-Rank: The uptrend of the Clippers slowed down with the last loss, but they are still climbing. The Warriors managed to stay on top and hold a safe distance between their ranking and all the others.
With the Warriors lacking match fitness, it’s unlikely that Kerr decides to rest anyone. After all, they are on a mission to put the fire out, as if they show weaknesses and continue losing, all the NBA will become more confident. The Clippers could hurt them on the interior, but in order to stay with them, they need to have their shooters sharp and ready. Beverley could frustrate Curry, but they don’t have any good solution for Durant, so he might take the game ball. Both sides need calm down a bit and enjoy the game, or otherwise, we might see a chippy, ugly game.
The bookmakers were taking the cautious approach with this game, waiting to see if Green will be available for the game, before releasing the odds. Green will be available tonight against the Clippers and will look to improve from his poor performance on Sunday night in the loss against the Pistons. So will the entire Warriors team, which is why I am expecting them to cover the spread and score plenty. Go with the over as well.
My Pick: Golden State Warriors -5 (-110)
Total: Over 221.5 points (-110)
