The Golden State Warriors head into the NBA playoffs coming off a regular season in which they had the best record in the West and they look to down the eighth-seeded LA Clippers starting with Game 1 at Oracle Arena. Golden State has been victorious in eight of its last 10 contests, while Los Angeles was 6-4 in its final 10 games of the season. The Warriors won three of the four meetings with the Clippers this year and are a 12.5-point favorite in this game with the total Sportsbook at 232 points.
Clippers vs Warriors Game Center
Standout Stats
- Golden State found another gear in the late stages of the NBA season, picking up wins in eight of its last 10 games and covering the spread in five of those contests with an average winning margin of 17.88. Meanwhile, LA backed its way into the playoffs, going 6-4 SU and 4-5-1 ATS in its last 10 games but 1-3 SU and 0-4 ATS in the final week of the season, and had an average losing margin of 18.5 over its last 10. The Warriors had an average winning margin of 15.67 in their three wins over the Clippers this year.
- Despite the Warriors’ prolific scoring, the UNDER has been a reliable play on them since late February as the total has gone UNDER in 16 of their last 21 games. Conversely, the poor Clippers defense has resulted in the OVER being a strong wager, with seven of their last nine games going OVER with an average combined score of 239.67 over that span.
- There has been just one team in the Association that has averaged more points per game than the Warriors through the final 10 games of the regular season and that was the Bucks. Golden State poured in 121 points per game down the stretch, leading the league by shooting a sparkling 52.4 percent from the field. Defensively, the Warriors have also been quite good through the last 10 contests, limiting their opponents to 108.3 ppg to rank eighth and tying for first in the NBA with a 42.2 opponent shooting percentage.
- The offense hasn’t been much of an issue for the Clippers through their final 10 games, as they averaged 118.6 points per game which was good enough for seventh-most in the NBA and were third in the league with a 49.5 shooting percentage. It has been a different story on the defensive side of the ball as LA ranked 25th down the stretch with 118.9 ppg allowed and was rated 23rd in opponent shot attempts per game at 92.
- Los Angeles will have to be on its toes to slow down Golden State from beyond the arc as the Warriors topped the league by shooting 45.2 percent from three-point range through the last 10 games of the year. Meanwhile, the Clippers were getting a good portion of their offense from inside the paint, ranking sixth with 53.4 ppg, but the Warriors ranked seventh defensively in that area of the floor.
My Best Bet for Los Angeles vs Golden State
Golden State -12.5
Much has been said about the high-octane offense the Warriors possess and rightfully so, however, their defense really picked up down the stretch and I think we will see a good blend of offense and defense in a statement game to open the series. Meanwhile, LA is having extreme difficulties slowing teams down and I expect Golden State to really show off its offensive skills.
