The Warriors will have an opportunity to take a commanding 3-0 series lead when they visit Portland on Saturday night. Golden State, which rallied from down 15 points at halftime to win at Oracle Arena on Thursday, won’t want to let the Trail Blazers gain any confidence with a win. Can Portland make this a series?

Western Conference Finals Point Spread and Betting Analysis

Despite getting the outright win in Game 2, Golden State failed to cover the point spread as a 7.5-point favorite. The Warriors are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games when their opponent allowed 100 points or more in the previous game. However, Golden State is 11-5 against the spread in their last 16 games following an ATS loss.

Portland is 7-1 against the spread in its last eight home games versus teams with a road winning percentage greater than .600. The Trail Blazers are also 4-1 ATS in their last five games following a straight up loss. Portland split its two regular season home games versus the Warriors, including most recently a 129-107 win on February 13th.

Golden State Warriors

Despite trailing by 15 points in the first half and as many as 17 in the game, Golden State never seemed to panic with Stephen Curry leading the way. Curry scored a game-high 37 points with eight assists and eight rebounds in the comeback victory. Klay Thompson finished with 24 points while Draymond Green had 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. The Warriors talked about how they have been here before and it helped them rally in a tough spot on Thursday night. With that type of killer instinct and clutch play, it will be difficult for Portland to win a game in this series.

The real challenge is that Green is a problem for the Trail Blazers wings and big men, and Portland has no answer for Curry whatsoever. He’s now averaging 36.6 points per game in this series while shooting 51.1% from the field.

Golden State is also getting quality contributions form its bench, including 14 points from Kevin Looney and 11 points from Jordan Bell in Game 2. As long as the bench continues to give them something, the Warriors are going to be tough to slow down.

Portland Trail Blazers

With Golden State firing on all cylinders, the Trail Blazers can’t afford any letdowns in Game 3. In order to have a shot, Portland needs more from its two best players: Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. That tandem combined for 45 points in the Game 2 loss. However, Lillard and McCollum shot a combined 15-of-39 from the field, which isn’t nearly good enough against a team as dangerous as the Warriors.

In addition to improved shooting from Lillard and McCollum, the Blazers also need an x-factor to step up on their home floor. Seth Curry played that role nearly perfectly in Game 2 when he scored 16 points off the bench including going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. While Curry is capable of chipping in, Portland still needs more out of players like Zach Collins, Al-Farouq Aminu and even Enes Kanter. Kanter has been a non-factor with just 14 points in two games. Unless he offers some kind of inside – or someone else steps up – the Trail Blazers could find themselves in an 0-3 hole.

WARRIORS

Away

108

TRAIL BLAZERS

Home

107

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