NBA Preview: The Spurs will have battle it out with the Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
#2 San Antonio Spurs (69-25) at #1 Golden State Warriors (75-15), Sunday, 3:30 p.m. EST
Line: Warriors -10. Total 211.
Golden State has won 23 of 24 games and are 8-0 in the playoffs coming into this series. The Warriors are also an impressive 17-7 ATS (Against The Spread) in those 24 games. That is no small feat considering how steep the chalk is for Golden State every time they take the court.
You can pretty much throw all three of the head-to-head games between these two teams this season out the window. Their first game was back on opening night on October 25 when San Antonio stunned the Warriors with a 129-100 ambush at Golden State. The Warriors clearly had not jelled yet with Kevin Durant, who was playing his first regular season game with his new club.
The NBA schedule-maker decided not to have these teams play again for almost five months. They met again at the AT&T Center on March 11. However, Coach Steve Kerr decided to rest Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala on the back-end of a back-to-back. Durant missed the game due to injury. The Spurs coasted again to a 107-85 victory.
Their third meeting took place 18 days later on March 29 back in San Antonio. Durant was still out for the Warriors. The Spurs jumped out to a 22-point lead in the first quarter. However, Golden State settled down and rallied for a 110-98 win.
So now we get to the postseason with millions of fans hoping to see both teams at full strength. However, Tony Parker is out for the season with a torn quadriceps tendon for the Spurs. Kawhi Leonard is going to play on Sunday after missing the end of Game 5 and all of Game 6 against Houston. Leonard turned his ankle during the fourth quarter of Game 5.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich will mix and match his guys every which way to try and find a way to win this series. Popovich has an uphill battle trying to beat this Golden State squad. The Spurs are listed at +675 to win this series, which is the largest dog that any Popovich team has been in any playoff series in his 20 years of coaching in the postseason.
Golden State is a -1050 favorite in the series and they should be. The Warriors are playing their best basketball of the entire season right now. Parker is out and we do not know if Leonard will be 100% early in this series.
Curry is scoring 27.3 points per game, dishing out 6.1 assists per game while grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game this postseason. Durant is averaging 23.3 points, 2.8 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game, while Green is averaging 14.9 points, 7.3 assists and 9.1 rebounds per game. Thompson is averaging 16.1 points per game, 1.8 assists per game and 2.5 rebounds per game.
My postseason record: 16-6 (+$800).
My pick:
No play. I do not like betting Game 1’s in the playoffs unless there is a Game 7 hangover involved from the previous series. I have a lean towards San Antonio and the points. My advice is to just kick back and enjoy Game 1.
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