San Antonio at Golden State
Time: 7:30 PM CT, ABC/ESPN
Spread: GSW -11
Total: 215
Odds c/o 5dimes
The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors have both cooled of late. Golden State has won six of its past 10 SU, and the Spurs are 5-5 over its last 10 games. Tonight, the Warriors host visiting San Antonio as 11-point favorites in a Saturday night ESPN televised matchup. The over/under is set at 215 points according to NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
Golden State
The Warriors most recently trounced the Dallas Mavericks 121-103. but prior to that win it had dropped three of four contests, with losses to Oklahoma City, Denver and Utah over that span. A big win over the Sacramento Kings mixes in, but the Dubs have lost three of five overall and desperately need to get a win to keep its place atop the Western Conference standings. Golden State did not dapple with other teams at the trade deadline, instead standing pat with a roster that has shown few flaws at any rate.
The Warriors could have sought to improve, but instead with the “do not fix what is not broken” adage in not engaging at the deadline. Instead, the team moves forward with its four All-Stars, and two MVPs, as the prohibitive NBA Finals favorite for the fourth straight season (albeit only two of the previous three resulted in a title!). The Warriors have strung together the most dominant three-run season stretch in NBA history, per wins only, and the fact that the front office realized there is no tinkering with something already balanced was a mature and wise decision overall.
Stephen Curry is leading the team in scoring this year with 27.2 points per game, to go with his 5.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.58 steals per night. Durant trails him at 26 points per game, but Durant is really close to having a 50/40/90 season, as he is shooting 51 percent from the floor, 42 percent from three and 89 percent at the line. Thompson, too, is close to that precipice, but falls shorter at the charity stripe where he is just 86 percent.
Draymond Green is only attempting 8.9 field goals per game, but he leads the team in assists with 7.3 per game, and he is vital in defending a myriad of switched pick and rolls on defense, having the foot speed and agility to switch out onto guards and defend them in the isolation that follows.
Green is one of the best defenders to come through the league in recent seasons, and his stellar ability to disrupt sets is one of the reasons why the Warriors are such a strong defensive team overall. He keeps the defensive lineup active and fast, rather than slowing it down with a traditional 5. Green,of course, starts at center, but he has a lot of positionless traits as an NBA player, and perhaps the league has not seen such a physical specimen with such grace since the late Anthony Mason. Indeed, they are similar type players.
San Antonio
The Spurs have been getting it done this season without 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Leonard has missed the majority of the season, and there is no timeline on his return. Many speculated the Spurs would deal Leonard at this trade deadline, but that of course did not happen. Whatever rifts may exist between Leonard and the team, are ameliorated by pure winning, which is something that is pedigree to the franchise.
Even without its best player, the Spurs are contending for a homecourt advantage top-4 playoff berth, and that speaks to just how good Gregg Popovich’s coaching continues to be. He has adapted arguably through three different NBA era changes, dating back to the late 90s, and put together one of the best run systems in professional sports.
To expect the Spurs to fade simply because Leonard has been out, is patently silly. Contention may be a nebulous and lofty goal for this year’s iteration, but they can put the scare into any of the other 29 teams simply due to a fundamentally sound system that manages to maximize each player, year in and year out.
