Golden State at Denver
Time: 8 PM CT, NBA League Pass
Spread: GSW -5
Total: 232.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Golden State Warriors have won eight of its past 10 games and currently lead No. 2 Houston by three games in the Western Conference standings. Golden State travels to face a team that tends to give it a tough time tonight.
The Warriors head to Denver to face the Nuggets as 5-point favorites in NBA action Saturday night on NBA League Pass. The Nuggets are 20-7 at home this season, but just 27-25 overall due to its 7-18 road mark. More home cooking is what Denver needs, leading No. 9 L.A. (Clippers) by just a half-game in the standings.
Denver
The Denver Nuggets balanced attack most heavily features Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, with center Nikola Jokic acting as the playmaker and catalyst of a team that really features a half-dozen shooting guards. Harris is averaging 17.3 points per game, while Murray is good for 16.3, but just 2.8 assists despite often starting at the 1-spot. Paul Millsap has missed the majority of the season, but the Nuggets are still 5-games above .500 without their All-Star power forward. Part of that is because
Former Kentucky forward Trey Lyles has stepped up in a major way since departing Utah. Lyles is averaging 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in just 20 minutes a game, and really seems to have found a niche and home in Denver.
Less so can be said for former lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay, whose days in Denver may be numbered. The former No. 8 overall pick is seeing just 18 minutes a game and averaging just eight points and two assists per game. The Nuggets desperately need some balance with so many “combo” guards on the team, and a still-buried Malik Beasley.
Beasley, a “one-and-done” from Florida State University, is averaging just 10 minutes a game in his sophomore season, despite sky-high “potential.” In fact, “potential” still seems to be the buzzword for this Denver team, but its potential never will be realized until the team strikes some better balance in its positioning. Moreover, one must wonder if running an offense through a center (Jokic averages 5.3 assists per game) can produce optimal success in this “Era of the Guard.”
Golden State
The Warriors have won four of its past five games, including a 119-104 victory over lowly Sacramento last outing. Utah got the best of Golden State before that, though, with a 129-99 victory in Utah. The Jazz has been hot, and so, too, are the tonight’s opponent the Nuggets.
In the win over Sacramento, Golden State got some big play from its primary three scorers: Kevin Durant had 33 points on 12 of 17 shooting, and Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry combined to shoot 15 of 29 for another 43 points. The Warriors shot 55 percent from the floor in the game and connected on 51 percent of its triples (17 of 33). Meanwhile, it held Sacramento to 44 percent shooting and Golden State won big despite 25 (!) turnovers in the game. The Warriors did have 25 assists to offset those turnovers, but it was a bit of a black mark on an otherwise dominant win.
Golden State could get only richer this offseason with news breaking that LeBron James is possibly interested in joining its roster. In the meantime, Kevin Durant is carrying it just fine. Durant has averaged 24 points, 6.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds over his last 10 games and the Warriors continue to steamroll opponents most nights. It is tough to imagine this roster getting that much better with James, but of course, it would. In the era of the super team, perhaps nothing should surprise us, but it stands to reason that Golden State would have to part with some of its existing brilliant chemistry to add a super-max contract like James would command.
