The Warriors don’t take too kindly to losing. They haven’t lost consecutive games since last year’s NBA Finals and won 10 times this season by an average of nearly 16 points immediately following a defeat. Portland has some work to do if it wants to even up this series.
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Golden State Warriors -4.5
Portland Trail Blazers +4.5
Over/Under 214.5
LOOK AHEAD
With Saturday’s Game 3 win, the Blazers became the first team to beat the Warriors twice this season. You might remember that 137-105 beating Portland administered to Golden State back in February. While that’s an impressive feat against the record-setting Dubs, getting even in the series will require Portland to execute another first against the Warriors.
Losing streaks just don’t happen to the Warriors. They are 10-0 in games following a loss this season, winning those by an average of 15.8 points. Put another way, when the Warriors are annoyed, they respond, and usually emphatically. After a fourth quarter meltdown in Game 2 where the Blazers were outscored 34-12 and fell 110-99, Portland had an impressive response on Saturday and the champs have taken notice. “I just admire what they’re doing,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Saturday night.
INJURIES
Kerr said it was highly unlikely Stephen Curry would be available for Monday’s Game 4. The reigning MVP is still recovering from a knee injury suffered two weeks ago. Curry will participate in the team’s Monday morning shootaround and then have his status re-evaluated.
A bruised hip suffered in Game 2 has hindered Blazers forward Maurice Harkless, who played just seven minutes in Saturday’s Game 3 win. Harkless said he wasn’t 100 percent on Saturday and commended the coaching staff for limiting his minutes.
KEY MATCHUP
Draymond Green was an absolute beast on Saturday, but it didn’t matter to him because his Warriors lost. Green nearly got a triple-double pouring in 37 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. He hit eight three-pointers in the game and could not be slowed down. Yet it didn’t really matter. The cocky forward predicted a Golden State win on Monday and even said that he will “be better,” and that he wasn’t satisfied by his Game 3 performance.
It’s hard to imagine Green playing even better than he did in Game 3. He was excellent on both ends of the court, playing strong defense while carrying the Warriors at times offensively. Green is a leader on the team and is likely saying things as a way to motivate his teammates, who didn’t play well overall on Saturday. But when Green says he can play better, you almost have to believe him.
QUICK PICK
While the Blazers are the only team to beat Golden State twice this season, it’s taken them seven games to do it – including this series. But that lack of success isn’t because of Damian Lillard, who scored 40 points with 10 assists on Saturday and is averaging 34.4 points against the Warriors. Lillard got some help from Al-Farouq Aminu and C.J. McCollum and the Blazers will need to play their best once again to even the NBA series.
We should also expect Golden State to play better on Monday night. The Warriors looked out of sync on Saturday, the usual crisp ball-movement wasn’t there, shots weren’t falling and the defense was suspect; things atypical of a Golden State squad. Not only did Green predict he would play better, he also predicted a Warriors win. You can’t argue with him.
NBA Odds: Golden State 113, Portland 105
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