Warriors vs. Clippers Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Andrew Rogers
Barring a dramatic turn of events, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers will have one of the highest Vegas totals of any NBA game this season – and given their history, it’s easy to see why. Golden State has scored more than 140 points in three of its past four games, and will soon be adding All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins to an already-stacked lineup.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
In one sense, the Clippers are lucky to not be even bigger underdogs given just how dominant the Warriors have looked on offence. And yet, despite their awesome performances of late, the Warriors have gone just 1-5 ATS in their past six games against Pacific Division opponents. The Clippers have failed to cover in four straight, but have gone an incredible 20-6 ATS in their past 26 games against division foes and are 17-4 ATS in their last 21 games played on a Friday.
Over bettors might not have the stomach for this one, with the total at an otherworldly 241. But you can’t fault Vegas for thinking big: Golden State has surpassed the number seven straight times against teams with winning records, while the Clippers are an incredible 9-0 O/U in their last nine vs. teams above .500. And these teams get at it when they face each other, having put up nine straight overs while averaging a combined 244 points in those games.
Golden State Warriors
James Harden might be getting the lion’s share of the attention these days, but the Warriors’ talented triumvirate of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson deserve props as well. The trio is averaging an incredible 87.1 points so far in January, with Curry (34.1) having made an average of 7.6 3-pointers per game this month. He’s a big reason why the Warriors are scoring nearly 134 points on more than 33 assists through their first seven January outings.
LA Clippers
While the Warriors have centralized the bulk of their scoring around three players, the Clippers rely on a quartet. Lou Williams (21.1), Tobias Harris (19.4), Danilo Gallinari (18.8) and Montrezl Harrell (17.6) have been responsible for a whopping 68.5 percent of the Clippers’ scoring in January. They’ll all need to be at their best if the Clippers hope to pull off the upset against a Warriors team that has prevailed in 14 of the previous 16 meetings between the teams.
