Friday night NBA and we will see the Golden State Warriors travel to the Chesepeake Energy Arena to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The game has a start time of 8:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Current Vegas betting odds have Golden State listed as 1 point favorites, while the total is set at 214.5.
Analysis: The Golden State Warriors have been the best team in the league from the get go and they come in at 31-5 SU and 24-11-1 ATS in the year so far. The Warriors have won 8 in a row and currently have a 6.5 game lead over the Clippers in the Pacific Division. The Warriors are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 vs. the Northwest Division and 24-10 ATS in their last 34 vs. the Western Conference, but 1-5 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Oklahoma City. Golden State has been the best offensive team in the league, ranking, 1st in scoring (109.3 ppg), 1st in shooting, 2nd in 3 point shooting and 4th in FT shooting. Defensively the Warriors have been solid as well, ranking 10th in points allowed (98.1 ppg), 1st in defensive FG% and 3rd in 3 point defense.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had a rough start to the year as they began it without both Westbrook and Durant. The Thunder did start the year at 3-12, but have clawed their way back to 18-20, which includes an 11-7 mark at home. OKC is 21-5-1 ATS in their last 27 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600, but 0-5 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Western Conference and 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 home games. The Thunder have been a below average offensive team his year, ranking 19th in scoring (98.8 ppg), 24th in shooting, 27th in 3 point shooting and 21st in FT shooting. Defensively the Thunder have been decent, ranking 12th in points allowed (98.0 ppg), 3rd in defensive FG% and 5th in 3 point defense.
Pick: Hard to wanna step in front of this Golden State train, but I will in this one. The Thunder took a bad road loss to the Rockets last night, but they showed something as they made a game of it after falling behind 40-18 at the end of 1 quarter. The Warriors are 14-4 on the road this year, but Oklahoma City has played well at home, going 11-7 overall, including winning their last 4 here. The Thunder are still a very god team and I feel they will come up big on National TV tonight. Take the small home dog in this one.
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