Warriors – Lakers

The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers in the last game of the regular season. Neither team has anything left to play for, but even so there will not be massive rotation changes – though the Warriors did announce they will rest Green and Iguodala.

Golden State (66-15, 35-5 home) finally ended a 14 game winning streak, losing last time out against Utah at Oracle Arena. It was no big deal though, as Golden State had nothing left to fight for and decided to rest the starters in the 4th quarter, despite it being a close game. The Warriors now have Kevin Durant back and will be happy to have another chance to get him going tonight, as the team looked a bit shaky since he came back a few days ago.

The Lakers (26-55, 9-31 away) were expected to tank heavily at the end of the season, trying to lose in order to protect a high draft pick. Instead, LA went on a surprising tear recently, winning 5 games in a row and “failing to secure” the 2nd worst record in the league. They are now sure to finish 3rd from the bottom, so they might as well try to win a 6th in a row, as it will not affect their draft pick.

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Team news:

Golden State will rest its two best defenders in Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. They will also miss Matt Barnes, another one of their better defenders. Everybody else is expected to play, including Curry, Thompson and Durant – who will probably be in for 3 quarters and sit out the 4th.

The Lakers will almost surely miss their starting PG Russell, but there are no other fresh injuries and they are not expected to rest anybody.

Barring the recent loss to the Jazz (top defensive team in the league), the Warriors have scored 120 or more points 4 times in a row. Against a defensively challenged team like the Lakers, the Warriors should be around that number again. In the only other meeting between these two teams in Golden State this season, the Warriors scored 149 (!!) and won 149 – 106.

On the other hand the Lakers are playing well recently and should be able to score 100+ points themselves – especially with Golden State missing its best two defenders, and having nothing to play for. While it`s true that the Lakers haven`t been involved in very high scoring games recently, this should be different given the circumstances and who they are playing against.

Look for an entertaining game here. Golden State will try to play a nice game of basketball for the fans and they might not give their absolute best effort on defense, no point in banging up your body in a meaningless game right before the playoffs. Their defense will be hugely undermined anyway by the absences of Green and Iguodala.

As for the Lakers, they are in a good rhythm and will try to continue the same way to end the season on a high, having fun and not lengthening possessions.

The points line is not too high and I expect these two teams to surpass it in this match. My tip is over 221 points to be scored and 7 units seems like a logical stake for this bet. Prediction: Golden State Warriors – LA Lakers 120 – 110.

Pick: over 221 points
Odds: 1.96 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.68
Event date: 13 April