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The Golden State Warriors will aim to continue their dominance over the LA Clippers, with the Warriors expected to be fully healthy ahead of this Wednesday night clash in the NBA.
Golden State (33-8, 16-5 home) has been on a tear recently, winning 18 of the last 20 games and playing great basketball in the process – with the only losses coming in games where Steph Curry was missing. Since Curry came back, he has played at an unbelievable MVP level and the Warriors won 5 in a row and went 4-1-0 ATS, despite missing Kevin Durant. Just a few days ago, the beat the Clippers by 16 points in Los Angeles.
After a great run in the second part of December, the Clippers (18-21, 7-12 away) have been hit by injuries yet again in the past few days, and lost two of their last three games. LA is on the back of a hard fought 108 – 107 home win against the worst team in the NBA, Atlanta. The Clippers did well to salvage an important win with all the injuries they have, but facing the Warriors at Oracle Arena will likely be too much of a mountain to climb.
Bet on Warriors v Clippers and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!Team news: The Warriors are expected to be at full strength for the first time in months. Iguodala and Green are highly probable to play, while Kevin Durant is listed as probable himself. The Clippers will miss Griffin, Gallinari, Beverley and Rivers. Teodosic is questionable, but he is expected to miss out as well (even if he will be cleared to play) given that this is the first of a back to back for LA – and they have a more accessible game the next night against Sacramento.
The Warriors have utterly dominated the H2H matchup against the Clippers recently, winning 11 matches in a row against them. Last season the Warriors won the four meetings by 17, 46, 13 and 10 points, while this year the two teams played twice and the Warriors won by 28 and 16 points.
For some reason the Clippers just can`t play against the Warriors, they regularly get blown out, so it`s difficult to see them even keeping the gap below 20 points in this one given how well the Warriors are playing, and especially how many injuries problems the Clippers have. They are simply decimated ahead of this clash.
LA will be at least 4 key players here, probably 5, so chances are they will be in for a long night with a second string lineup against the best team in the world. They are used to being shorthanded as they always miss 2-3 guys, but there`s a massive difference between 2-3 and 4-5.
It`s almost like the Clippers are willingly forfeiting this game, given how they made no effort to get Griffin fit for this game, something which will probably be true for Teodosic as well. Obviously they will try to win, but they have their eyes on tommorow`s game against the Kings – one they could realistically win. They are in survival mode until they get some of their main guys back, needing to pick and choose the games they can win, in order to stay in playoff contention.
The point spread is set at -16.5 points in favor of the Warriors. I would have preferred for Durant to not return in this game, given how the Warriors play faster and always cover the point spread when he`s not on the court – but against this shorthanded Clippers side they should win big no matter who plays.
My tip is Golden State to cover the -16.5 handicap, and I expect this match to end in a blowout. Prediction: Golden State Warriors – LA Clippers 126 – 98.
Pick: Warriors -16,5
Odds: 1.95 @ Sbobet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.60
Event date: 11 January
