Warriors vs. Trail Blazers Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Ryan Stetson.
The Warriors and Blazers play the back end of a home-and-home Saturday night in Portland. The Trail Blazers got the best of Golden State thanks to a trey from Damian Lillard with 5.1 seconds remaining in overtime on Friday night.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Basketball bettors just can’t trust the Warriors these days. Golden State is a horrific 1-8 against the spread (ATS) in its last nine games and is only 14-22 ATS overall this year. Even though the Warriors lead the Association in field goal percentage and free-throw shooting and sit fourth averaging 115.4 points per game, they haven’t been a reliable over bet either. Seven of their last 10 have finished under the total.
Portland has struggled with consistency too. The Blazers are 17-18 ATS but have covered the number in four of their last five meetings with Golden State.
Golden State Warriors
It’s not often that the Warriors drop consecutive games, but they haven’t been nearly as dominant this season. They were blown out by the Lakers on Christmas Day and then had Steph Curry turn the ball over late in overtime on Friday before Lillard hit the game-winning shot. The Warriors had an off shooting night on Friday, going .425 from the field, .295 from outside and 6-of-15 from the free-throw line. They missed nine of their first 10 tries from the stripe.
“It definitely stings when you leave money out there on the floor,” Golden State forward Kevin Durant told reporters. “It’s unacceptable to miss that many free throws. We’re pretty efficient at the line. I started us off missing two in a row, and I think that got to us.”
Portland Trail Blazers
Lillard continues to be the straw that stirs the drink for the Trail Blazers. The 28-year-old is sixth in the NBA averaging 26.7 points per game and also paces his team with 5.8 assists per contest. After he buried the Warriors on Friday, Durant told the media that he thought Lillard was a future Hall of Famer. That remains to be seen, but there’s no questioning Lillard’s consistency. He averages 23.4 points and 6.2 assists per game in his career.
