Hornets vs. Warriors Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Charlie Grant
The chase for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference is heating up, and the Charlotte Hornets are in the mix. Buzz City blew a great chance to gain ground on the competition when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
The Golden State Warriors, meanwhile, are struggling to hold onto the top seed in the Western Conference. The Dubs are neck-and-neck with the New York Knicks for an embarrassing record. G-State owns the second-worst ATS home record (13-23-1) behind only the Knicks this season.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Hornets’ four-game win streak was snapped with the bad night against the Lakers. Charlotte enters Saturday night’s schedule trailing the eighth seed by two games but it has to jump the Magic and the Heat to sneak into the postseason.
The Bugs are 4-1 against the spread over their last five games but 5-14 ATS in their last 19 road games against teams with winning home records. However, the road team is 6-0-1 ATS in the last seven meetings between the Dubs and Hornets.
Golden State is sputtering to the conclusion of the regular season. The defending champions seem thoroughly disinterested in the mundane procedural process of non-elimination games right now. The Warriors are coming off a 131-130 overtime loss as 10-point road favourites against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Steve Kerr’s crew is 10-9 straight up in its last 19 games and 7-15 ATS in its last 22. Not exactly world-class stuff from the back-to-back NBA champs. The Warriors, who were projected to win 65 games this season, can’t finish with more than 58.
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets plays five of their final seven games on the road including Sunday’s contest. Charlotte lives and dies with its All-Star point guard. Kemba Walker is averaging 28.8 points and nine assists over his last five games.
Buzz City is short on offensive playmakers outside of Walker but the club is getting consistent performances out of Dwayne Bacon. The second-year wing player has scored at least 20 points in each of his last three games.
Defending still seems to be a main point of weakness for Charlotte. The Hornets are 22nd in the league in defensive net rating and they’ve allowed at least 114 points in each of their last four games.
Golden State Warriors
Should bettors be worried about Golden State or is this just how we should all expect a team with championship or bust to treat this point of the regular season? Is there really a problem in the Bay Area or will everything fix itself once the stakes increase in the playoffs?
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