The Golden State Warriors are the favorites to win the Western Conference title and finish with the best record in the NBA this season, but the pesky Rockets are just a half-game back. While Golden State would still be the favorite to win the title wherever it ends up seeding-wise, the Warriors would like to finish atop the conference. They will look to stay ahead of the rest of the pack when they hit the road to face off with the Portland Trail Blazers this week.
Portland is battling with several other teams for playoff positioning in the bottom half of the Western Conference standings and a win in this game would be huge, but it won’t be easy. Home or away, Golden State is a dominant team and should be the heavy favorite to win this contest and stay ahead of Houston in the standings.
This war on the floor will go down Wednesday, February 14, 2018, at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Moda Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Warriors are 44-13 straight up and 26-30-1 against the spread. Golden State has covered in 13 of 28 attempts on the road this season. The Warriors have not been the underdog in any game this season and that trend will continue in this one.
The Trail Blazers are 31-26 straight up and 28-25-4 against the spread. Portland has gone 11-13-3 against the spread at home. The Blazers are 12-9-1 against the spread as the underdog.
Player To Watch
Damian Lillard — The Warriors figure to score a boatload of points in this one, so the Blazers will rely on their star shooting guard to keep them within striking distance. Lillard is averaging 25.8 points this season on 44.4 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent from the three-point line.
Lillard has been fantastic his last two times out. He scored 50 points in only 29 minutes on February 9 in a blowout win over the Kings. Lillard shot 16-of-26 from the field and sunk eight three-pointers in 13 attempts.
If he can do something like that again, his team could have a chance. Lillard scored 39 points last time out against the Jazz but it wasn’t enough in a loss. Lillard is adding 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per contest on the year.
Key Stat
Three. That’s the number of losses for the Warriors in their past seven games, which for them is considered an awful slump. Golden State was defeated by the Jazz in a 30-point blowout to begin this lull.
The Warriors beat the Kings but then dropped back-to-back games to the Nuggets and the Thunder. Golden State has bounced back of late with three consecutive wins, including an impressive one over the Spurs, but the Rockets have been really good this season when James Harden and Chris Paul are healthy, making the race for the top seed closer than expected.
The Warriors are such a talented team that three losses in that short of a span is a huge surprise, but it doesn’t seem indicative of any underlying issues.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Blazers are a good team, and playing at home will usually give a squad of their caliber a puncher’s chance against the best foes in the league. However, the Warriors are such a step above everybody they shouldn’t have much trouble taking care of business in this showdown.
Choose Golden State to cruise to the win, as its offense will be too much. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson will all score enough for the Warriors to be the right choice to cover the spread. The scoring total will be really high, as is expected in Golden State games.
NBA Odds: Warriors 123, Trail Blazers 111
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