Trail Blazers vs. Warriors Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Jeremy Perry
The Golden State Warriors have won just one game in the past 11 days. These two teams meet Friday night in Oakland, with the defending champions severely weakened for reasons which are not hard to understand.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Warriors got crushed by the Oklahoma City Thunder at home on Wednesday, their second loss of the season at home but their fifth loss in the last six games. They are 8-11 against the spread this season, 12-7 ATS at home.
The Blazers are 11-7 against the spread this season after getting crushed by the Milwaukee Bucks this past Wednesday. They are 12-6 overall, though, and are once again in the upper tier of the Western Conference after finishing with the No. 3 playoff seed last season
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers crashed and burned on Wednesday in Milwaukee. They had one of those nights when nothing went right and fell to the Bucks, 143-100. Portland trailed by 22 points at halftime and 30 after three quarters.
The Blazers hit just 36 percent of their field goals, and hit only 9 of 42 tries from the three-point line, or 21 percent. The Blazers conversely allowed Milwaukee to shoot 53 percent. What also led to the blowout loss for Portland beyond the shooting percentages is that the Bucks – despite having relatively fewer missed shots to rebound, still gained more offensive boards than the Blazers did, 13-10. Milwaukee outrebounded Portland by 19, 59 to 40. That led to 14 more shot attempts for the Bucks and led to 23 more made baskets for the Bucks, 57 to 34. It was a total wipeout.
Of particular note is that Milwaukee superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo hit 13 of 20 shots and scored 33 points with 16 rebounds and nine assists. He was a monster. This is relevant because Golden State, in a contrast to Milwaukee, is without its best player in this game, which will be talked about more below:
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors did not have Steph Curry on the floor for a recent three-game road trip through Texas – against the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, and San Antonio Spurs. They did not have Draymond Green for some of those games, and they did not have either Curry or Green for the Wednesday night game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They lost all four of those games, and lost at home to OKC by a 123-95 score, with the Thunder outscoring the Warriors 60-46 in the first half and 36-16 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 28-point win.
It is beyond clear how badly the Warriors are struggling without Curry, their best player, and Green, their defensive leader. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson have not been enough to arrest the team’s slide. Durant hit just one of five three-point shots against OKC. Thompson hit just three of eight triples. Neither man has been hitting the three-pointer consistently in the absence of Curry, whose shooting does so much to stretch the court and put pressure on opposing defences.
The other big deficit for the Warriors against OKC was on the glass. Without Draymond on the boards, the Dubs surrendered 18 offensive rebounds to the Thunder and grabbed only seven offensive boards of their own. That deficit was too much to overcome. Golden State hit just 7 of 29 threes and hit just 43 percent of its field goals. OKC hit only 48 percent of its shots – the Thunder’s offence did not run wild – but the difference on the glass was huge, and that broke things open for Oklahoma City. It is hard to see how the Warriors can realistically beat good teams right now without Curry and Green. Bad teams they can handle, but Portland is a solid team.
