After surprising home losses to Boston and Minnesota in less than a week’s time, the Golden St. Warriors have to be asking themselves if the chase of the record is really worth it. The Warriors have looked fatigued and sloppy lately and even if they reach 73, is it worth it if they don’t win the title? With two games in four days against the second best team in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs, we’ll see where their heads are at down the stretch.
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LOOK AHEAD
The Warriors may very well be looking ahead to the playoffs at this point and Draymond Green said as much after Golden State lost to Minnesota on Tuesday night. The problem Golden State runs into is that it may miss out on home court advantage in the playoffs if it loses both games against San Antonio and one of its two against Memphis, while San Antonio wins out.
Even if the Warriors are ready to stop chasing the Bulls record and focus on the playoffs, it would be damaging for their title hopes if they miss out on home court.
KEY MATCHUP
Steph Curry had his worst first half of the season on Tuesday night against the Timberwolves, failing to hit a field goal in the first half all season and only hit two free throws. Curry turned it on in the third quarter and it looked as if the Warriors were going to take it from there and coast to win number 70, but he and the Dubs struggled again in the fourth and allowed the game to go to overtime where they eventually lost.
Curry only hit 28 percent of his shots from the floor and he may be wearing down at this point. He had one of his worst games of the season the last time he played in San Antonio back on March 19, as the Spurs played him physical the entire game and Curry didn’t cope well with it.
If the referees allow the same kind of once latitude here, Curry will likely struggle once again.
Harrison Barnes was one of the unsung heroes last postseason and his ability to hit the three made the Warriors extremely deadly. With opposing defenses rotating over to stop Curry and Klay Thompson, and to a lesser extent Draymond Green, Barnes gets a lot of wide open looks from three and the Warriors are tougher to beat when he’s knocking down the treys. He was one of the few Warriors to have a good game against the Timberwolves and he should get the same good looks against the Spurs.
The terrifying thing about San Antonio is how many different ways it can win a game. The Spurs have the ability to outscore most teams with talented guys like Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, or they can grind out wins by playing lockdown defense when the stars are struggling.
The latter way to win a game was on display Tuesday night against the Jazz when the Spurs starters - except for LaMarcus Aldridge - had bad games, but the Spurs got a big boost from their bench and forced 16 Utah turnovers to eke out a two-point win.
LIVE BETTING SCENARIO
These two teams are considered the best in the league by virtually every analyst and it will be interesting to see how much of their hand each coach shows. Considering everyone expects these two to meet in the Western Conference Finals, Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr probably won’t pull out all their tricks, but if home court for the playoffs is potentially on the line, expect a much bigger effort.
Keep an eye on what’s at stake here and the outcome of the game between these two teams on Thursday night in Oakland when making a wager here.
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Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! Bet on the NBA today as the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets square off Sunday, April 10, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. ET at AT&T Center. The matchup will be televised nationally on NBA TV.
