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Andrew Rogers
Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans: Odds, Prediction
The New Orleans Pelicans were the story of the NBA in the first round in the playoffs, but the Golden State Warriors are clipping their wings in the second round. New Orleans backers are hoping their team can make things more difficult for Stephen Curry and the Warriors when the series shifts to the Big Easy on Friday.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
NBA teams with a 2-0 lead end up winning the series 93.6 percent of the time in league playoff history. That’s the bad news for the Pelicans. The good news is the Warriors are one of the 19 teams to have lost a series after winning the first two games. Of course that was in the 2016 NBA Finals against some guy named LeBron James.
The Dubs won but failed to cover as double-digit chalk in Game 2 against New Orleans. Golden State is now 6-1 straight up and 4-3 ATS in the postseason since it went 7-10 straight up in its last 17 regular season contests.
The Warriors are 8-2 against the number in their last 10 playoff road dates and 26-2 SU in its last 28 games against the Pelicans. New Orleans is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games on its home floor and the over is 25-9 in the last 34 games at the Smoothie King Center.
About 86 percent of Sports Interaction bettors are backing the Warriors as 4.5-point favourites in this NBA matchup and 60 percent expect the game to go over the 232-point total.
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry played for just the second time in the last 53 days for the Warriors but he didn’t look rusty in his Game 2 performance. The two-time NBA MVP scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 27 minutes off the Golden State bench. Warriors coach Steve Kerr has already said Curry will be back in the starting lineup for Game 3.
Draymond Green is doing a fine defensive job against Pelicans’ All-Star Anthony Davis, and he’s putting up decent numbers himself. The three-time All-Star is averaging 18 points, 11.5 assists and 12 rebounds in the series against New Orleans.
New Orleans Pelicans
If there’s one thing New Orleans supporters can gripe about after the first two games against the Warriors, it’s got to be the uneven foul distribution. Golden State shot 59 free throws in Games 1 and 2 compared to the Pelicans’ 20.
Anthony Davis averaged eight trips to the line per game during the regular season (fourth most in the league) but he’s taken just four free throws so far in the series against the Warriors.
