The Golden State Warriors’ journey toward a title is ready to welcome its next challenger. After rolling past the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, top-seeded Golden State will face off with the No. 5 seed Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Warriors will be big favorites both in this series and in Game 1, which will be played at home. Utah did a nice job of going on the road and claiming three wins to edge out the Clippers in the first round, and hope those performances will carry over in another hostile arena.
Utah has a solid team but it’s going to be tough to slow down a Golden State team that has the most stacked roster in the NBA and seems to be firing on all cylinders.
This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at 10:30 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The game will be televised live on TNT.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Tuesday schedule.
NBA Odds
The Warriors are listed as 13-point favorites to pick up the Game 1 victory. They are a heavy -1250 favorite on the moneyline while Utah is the +777 underdog. Utah would pay off handsomely if it could somehow pull off the upset. The scoring total is listed at 208 points.
Golden State is 71-15 straight up and 43-39-4 against the spread. The Warriors have played 42 home games on the season, covering in 22 of them and pushing three times. Golden State has been favored in all but three games this season and has gone 41-38-4 against the spread when giving points.
The Jazz are 55-34 straight up and 42-44-3 against the spread. Utah has covered in 22 of 45 road games on the season and is 13-17 against the spread as the underdog. The Jazz were six-point underdogs against the Clippers in Game 7 and not only covered but picked up the upset to advance.
Season Series
The teams faced off three times in the regular season and Golden State captured two of them. The Warriors went on the road and won 106-99 in December, as Stephen Curry led the way with 26 points. Golden State won again a couple weeks later, cruising to a 104-74 victory. Curry had 25 in that one and the Jazz will need to find a way to slow him down in this series.
The Jazz did deal the Warriors their only loss in the final 16 games on April 10, capturing a 105-99 victory in Golden State. However, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant didn’t play for the Warriors and Gordon Hayward sat for Utah, so it’s hard to take much from that game.
Player To Watch
Kevin Durant -- The Warriors are a great team even without their star power forward, but have the capability to go down as one of the most dominant groups ever if he can remain healthy and play well the rest of the way.
Durant has battled knee and calf injuries this season, missing time during the regular season and the first round against the Blazers. However, he returned for the final game of the series and should be good to go in this one.
Durant averaged 25.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game during the regular season, shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from three-point range. He averaged 21.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in his first two games in the first round but should see an uptick in his scoring against the Jazz.
Free NBA ATS Pick
Utah plays the most deliberate style of basketball in the NBA, preferring to milk the shot clock and using patience in the halfcourt set. The Warriors, of course, play at warp speed, with Curry, Thompson and Durant all lethal offensive scorers.
If the Jazz can contain Golden State and make this a lower-scoring game, they will have a shot. However, that’s much easier said than done. Expect the Warriors to get out and run in this one and cruise to the win with their overwhelming talent.
NBA Odds: Warriors 108, Jazz 97
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