One team from the southern part of the state was expected to be in the postseason, and it wasn’t the Los Angeles Clippers. But here they are. After trading away their best player at the deadline, the Clips still finished among the top eight in the Western Conference and for their troubles they get the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Not many are giving the Clips a chance to even win a game in this series, but they must be played and this one gets the primetime ABC slot on Saturday night.
NBA Playoffs Betting at BookMaker.eu
Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors
Date and Time: Saturday, April 13, 2019, 8 p.m. ET
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
NBA Betting Odds at Bookmaker.eu: Golden State -12.5, O/U 231
Clippers at Warriors TV Coverage: ABC
Live Betting Odds Analysis
The rebuild began around the deadline when the Clippers dealt Tobias Harris to Philly for players and picks. The feeling was that they were packing it in, only Doc Rivers and the players didn’t get the memo. Three consecutive defeats at the end of the season, including a 27-point setback to the Warriors, dropped LA into the eighth spot. The Clips ended the slide by beating Utah in overtime in the finale, ending with a 48-34 record. Considering they weren’t even supposed to be playing at this time, the Clippers have nothing to lose, and that makes them dangerous.
The regular season has become a nuisance for the Warriors, who are the overwhelming favorites to win a third-straight NBA title. The Dubs fought with the Nuggets for the No. 1 seed for most of the season before finally grasping control late in the season. They won six straight and eight of nine to get playoff-ready, losing to Memphis in the final game of the season when most of the regulars rested. The Warriors have the ability to flip the switch like they did last season when they entered the postseason with losses in 10 of their last 17 games.
Key Stat
During their championship run the Warriors have been dominant at Oracle Arena. That hasn’t been the case this season and it makes us wonder if the Dubs are vulnerable or did they just go through the motions until the postseason.
Winning 30 of 41 games isn’t bad, but it’s only the fourth-best home record in the West and seventh-best in the NBA. And how the Dubs lost some of those games was alarming. Six times they went down by at least 20 points on their home floor and their plus-6.6 point differential at home was their worst in the Steve Kerr era.
For the season the Warriors dropped eight games by at least 20 points, which is concerning since no past NBA champion dropped more than six games by at least that many points during its title season.
Matchup to Watch
No starting unit in the league matches up to what the Warriors put on the floor. So, it’s up to LA’s strong bench to give the team a boost. Led by Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, the Clippers produce the most points of any group of reserves and they play the second-most minutes. The bench’s net rating is also fifth-best.
You don’t typically see bench players leading a team in scoring, but the setup has worked well for the Clippers. Williams tops the Clips with 20 points per game and Harrell adds 16.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. They are reserves since the two have combined to make six starts, but Williams and Harrell both average starter minutes at nearly 27 per contest.
They give the second unit a boost and that could be impactful in this game. Golden State is dealing with injuries to Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, two of the Dubs top reserves. The two will likely play, but the minutes could be restricted and the performance compromised.
Clippers at Warriors Live Betting
The Warriors haven’t lost the first game of a playoff series since the 2016 Western Conference final, and they are an absurd 32-6 over the last two postseasons with just one home loss. During that time they faced some far better teams than the Clippers. Williams needs to score plenty of points to help LA’s cause, and he’s more than capable. Who can forget the night he dropped 50 on the Dubs at Oracle? It’s hard to envision Golden State losing this one, but I like the Clips bench to keep the game close against a double-digit line on the NBA sportsbooks.
NBA Playoff Score Prediction: Warriors 114, Clippers 106
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