Golden State opened as a 3-point favorite tonight against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, but the line has moved to -2 in early betting. It’s hard to fathom because they’ve been so dominant but this current version of the Golden State Warriors is not the team that we saw in June or even the team we saw for the first few weeks of the season. Golden State is 1-5 SU and 0-6 ATS in its last six games – all without Steph Curry.
- The total has gone UNDER in four of the Warriors’ last five games (avg. combined score: 208.2).
- The Trail Blazers are 6-2 SU and ATS in their last eight games vs teams with winning records.
- The Warriors are 0-6 ATS in their last six games.
Trail Blazers vs Warriors Game Center
Warriors Are Searching for Positives
Steve Kerr’s tenure as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors has been a bit of a charmed existence. That fact was accentuated on Wednesday when the Warriors lost their fourth consecutive game – the first such streak since Kerr was hired in May 2014. And lose they did.
OKC dominated the Warriors and came away with a 28-point victory over the defending champs, who are wondering if this is rock bottom or if there’s further yet to go. There’s no relief in sight, though, as Curry is out tonight while Draymond Green is doubtful to return.
So once again, that puts the pressure on Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to carry the load. They’ve done an admirable job, but the supporting cast just isn’t there. Damion Lee had 13 points off the bench vs OKC but nobody else had more than six.
Trail Blazers Leading the Northwest
Portland, meanwhile, remains in the lead of the NBA’s Northwest Division, going 6-3 SU in their last nine games. The good times came to a bit of a screeching halt against Milwaukee on Wednesday as they were outscored 71-50 in the second half.
With a day off to travel to Oakland, the Trail Blazers will be looking to regroup and take advantage of the weakened Warriors, who have scored fewer than 100 points in three of their last four games.
My Pick for This Game
I think things are going to continue to get worse before they get better for Golden State. Teams are able to key in on Durant and Thompson, which forces inexperienced players to shoulder a lot of the load.
I’m going to fade Golden State one more time and go with the underdog Trail Blazers tonight. Oddsmakers are still giving Golden State the benefit of the doubt and I don’t think they should be in the favorite position tonight based on the slide they’re on and nothing really changing from the situation they were in on Wednesday.
The UNDER might be worth a look in this game, too, as Golden State has the top-ranked shooting defense and they’ve been struggling to score themselves.
