Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors
Time: 9:30 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread GSW -18
Total: 228
Betting odds c/o Pincle
The Golden State Warriors are 29-0 at Oracle Arena this season and will look to extend its record-holding streak for home victories by disposing of a hapless Phoenix Suns team at 9:30 Central on NBA League Pass. NBA oddsmakers set the line 18 points in favor of Golden State, as Phoenix looks to avoid the inevitable extending of its current two game losing streak.
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Phoenix really has been victims of a poor fate this season. Its star player Eric Bledsoe played just the first 31 games of the season before suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee on Dec. 26. He underwent surgery and was ruled out for the season, along with Phoenix’s hopes of staying afloat in the Western Conference. Though Bledsoe’s injury has more or less wrecked the Suns, it has given more of a chance for rookie Devin Booker to emerge into the star he appears destined to become.
Booker is averaging 19.7 points and 3.8 assists per game over the Suns’ past 10 games, while playing 35 minutes a night. The Suns have won just three of those games, but Booker has scored 67 points in the last two losses to the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks. He shot a combined 36 of 52 from the field in those two games.
In the month of March, Booker is posting 25.8 points and 4.3 assists per game in 38 minutes a night over six games. To say that the Suns found a star with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2015 draft may be preemptive, but not by much. He has the shooting stroke and ball handing skills to be a fixture in the Suns backcourt, likely starting alongside Bledsoe when he does return next season. At age 19, this suddenly gives Phoenix a brighter future than it may had known of had Bledsoe remained in the fold.
Aside from Bledsoe’s injury has been the fact that its other starting guard Brandon Knight, has been slowed by injuries of his own. He has been ruled out for this game, but he did play in the 116-98 loss to Denver, scoring 10 points on 2 of 9 shooting while dishing out five assists in 25 minutes of play.
Knight, Bledsoe, and Booker can form an even more effective three-guard rotation than what Phoenix had while it still possessed Goran Dragic, Bledsoe and Boston Celtics’ All-Star Isaiah Thomas. The Suns are in the midst of becoming a tough team again, even if it cannot necessarily be discerned by the team’s dreadful 17-48 record this season.
But is any of that enough to concern the Warriors? The Dubs have the league’s deepest and most dangerous rotation, perhaps with only the San Antonio Spurs in the conversation for the honor. Golden State is hoping to become the single-season winningest team ever, and Stephen Curry seems to already have claimed the all-time best shooter role in NBA history. He is averaging 30.4 points per game this season while shooting 51 percent from the field and 46 percent from three.
As if that was not enough, Klay Thompson has kept his foot on the pedal as well, with 22.1 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three.
The Warriors shoot 41.4 percent from three as a team while hitting 12.8 triples per game. That type of shooting is pretty hard to overcome from any team, but Phoenix certainly does not have the firepower to match it which is why the Dubs are 18 point favorites on their homecourt.
The Warriors may lose Harrison Barnes in free agency, but it seems that is chipping one small chip off a dominating proverbial ice block. The Warriors locked up Draymond Green last summer, and that alone seems to secure a date with destiny as far as keeping this dynasty intact. Green is averaging 13.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game, a virtual threat for a triple double every game.
The Dubs round out the rotation with strong defenders like Festus Ezeli, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala, which makes it all the more easy to withstand the loss even of a promising young talent like Barnes. For the immediate future though, this is all intact and the Dubs really have an 11-man rotation, and even 12, if new acquisition Anderson Varejao is factored into the picture.
The Warriors can withstand injuries to any talents save maybe Curry and Green, and just keep on ticking. The tick will certainly be loud enough against a struggling Suns team merely showcasing the talents of Booker at this point in the 2015-16 season.
