Warriors – Spurs

Golden State will try to get a foothold in the Eastern Conference finals after winning Game 1 in dramatic fashion, and their job will be made much easier by the fact that Kawhi Leonard will not play for the San Antonio Spurs.

The Warriors have won all their 9 games in the NBA playoffs so far, but none was more difficult than Game 1 against San Antonio. Golden State fell down early and was trailing by 23 points midway trough the 3rd quarter, but they accomplished an amazing comeback and eventually won by 2. Nevertheless, much of that had to do with Kawhi Leonard going down for the Spurs.

San Antonio led by as much as 25 points in the first half of Game 1 and they were truly excellent, but once Kawhi Leonard rolled his ankle, they were consistently outplayed. The Spurs know they blew a huge chance, maybe their only chance to keep the series competitive, and now they also lost Leonard for at least a game. Morale will definitely be low coming into Game 2.

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Team news: The Golden State Warriors have Andre Iguodala questionable, while the Spurs will miss Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

San Antonio is a well coached and well oiled machine, so they usually have chances to win even with Kawhi Leonard out – as it was seen throughout the season and particularly in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, when they beat Houston by 29 points on the road without him. However, it`s a different proposition when you play Golden State.

The Warriors are just too good and San Antonio needs Kawhi to stand a chance in this series, especially as they also miss Tony Parker. This was obvious in Game 1, with the Warriors outscoring the Spurs by 25 points in the last 19 minutes of the game, after Kawhi went down.

After the scare they had a couple of days ago, I expect Golden State to come out strong and dominate the game right from the start. They were rusty in Game 1 after a long break, but that shouldn`t be the case now – and with no Kawhi for the Spurs, it`s hard to see the visitors keeping this game close.

Look for the Spurs to struggle on both ends of the floor, as they don`t have anybody to consistently attack off the driblle (their best two penetrating players are out), and they are also short in personnel who can cover Curry, Thompson and Durant. The Spurs don`t have 3 good enough defenders to put on the floor against those guys.

Warriors were 10 point favorites in Game 1, when some rust was expected from them and Kawhi was healthy. I think they should be favored by more than 13.5 points in this Game 2 (I`m thinking 16-17), so I will happily back them to cover the handicap.

I`m buying half a point for a little extra security, so my tip is the Warriors to cover the 13 point spread. Prediction: Golden State Warriors – San Antonio Spurs 120 – 98.

Pick: Warriors -13
Odds: 1.86 @ 18Bet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.88
Event date: 17 May