The defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors have eclipsed the 140-point mark in three of their past four games and are riding a six-game win streak into the Staples Center tonight to play the Clippers. The teams have split the first two games they’ve played this season but haven’t played since before Christmas. Golden State opened as a 6-point favorite, but the line is on the move upward. The total opened at 241.5.
- The Warriors are 3-11-1 ATS in their last 15 games as a favorite of 7.0 or less.
- The total has gone OVER in the Warriors’ last nine games vs the Clippers (avg. combined score: 244.0).
- The Clippers are 13-2 ATS in their last 15 games vs divisional opponents.
Warriors vs Clippers Game Center
The Rich Get Richer
On the heels of the recent run, Golden State is expected to welcome DeMarcus Cousins to the lineup for the first time tonight. Cousins, who has been recovering from an Achilles injury for almost a year, adds just another weapon to the league’s No. 1 scoring offense – an offense that is averaging 136.0 points per game over its last three outings.
The Clippers, meanwhile, have a potent offense of their own. LA is ranked fifth in scoring offense this season with 115.2 points per game. Lately, though, the offense has stalled a little with the team dropping its last four games and scoring an average of 112.3 in the month of January.
Plenty of High-Scoring Games in This Matchup
Nine consecutive games in this matchup have gone OVER the closing total with an average combined score of 244 and there’s not a lot to suggest that they won’t get up in that range again tonight.
This game features the No. 1 and No. 5 scoring offenses against the No. 21 and No. 25 scoring defenses. Last time out, they played to a 129-127 Warriors victory on December 23.
My Pick for This Game
I think this is a high-scoring game, potentially going OVER the total, but I’m much more comfortable taking the Warriors on the spread even though the Clippers covered in the first two meetings.
With Golden State scoring at will and the Clippers’ scoring down some this month, it looks to me like a good spot for the Warriors to pick up a double-digit victory tonight. This line is only going to move further, so I’m locking in Golden State at -6.5.
