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Last night the Golden State Warriors played the Oklahoma City Thunder in a much anticipated match-up and a rematch between Kevin Durant and his old team led by Russell Westbrook. It was a match made in TV heaven, but then the game happened and the Warriors did what the Warriors do and absolutely dominated. Westbrook got his triple double, but the Durant went for 40 and the Warriors won easily. That will be the story for a lot of teams this season as the Warriors are starting to click again. They are currently 36-6 and 70 wins feels very possible again.
We saw the Warriors flex their muscles against a lower seeded West team last night and tonight we should see the Spurs flex their muscles against a lower seeded team as they take on the Nuggets. Nobody is really talking about the Spurs this season, but they are playing at an elite level once again and look poised for another deep playoff run.
Tonight one of the main TNT games is the Minnesota Timberwolves taking on the Los Angeles Clippers. This was probably designed as an up and coming team against a tough veteran team, but injuries have derailed that dream. The Clippers already without Blake Griffin have lost Chris Paul for the next 6-8 weeks and their team is much worse without him. His on/off numbers show him the Clips as a -20 and I don’t care how good Austin Rivers is, that sort of production can’t be replaced. A free fall is coming.
NBA Betting Tips:
One of the under the radar hot teams right now is the Dallas Mavericks. The key to this is Dirk Nowitzki who is starting to look like his old self after an injury riddled first half. He’s shooting much better over his past four starts and the Mavs have won three straight. They are a sneaky play for the 8th seed in the West as they are just 3.5 games back and finally at full strength. I like them to continue their streak tonight against the lowly Heat and continue the dream. Dallas +2
Despite their bad record, Minnesota actually has a fairly respectable point differential and their main struggles this season have come in closing out teams. This is a common struggle among young teams and we have seen it this season with the Milwaukee Bucks as well. That is just something that you learn as you go. However, tonight they face the Clippers without Griffin and Paul and the close out part of the game feels a hell of a lot less scary. This team should be scrambling to find themselves for a bit here and I think that benefits the Wolves +1.5 tonight.
The current 8th seed in the West is the Denver Nuggets and they play a really exciting style of basketball. They’ve had some of the highest scoring games this season and haven’t played a whole lot of defense. That is trouble tonight against an offensive machine like the San Antonio Spurs… in San Antonio. This should be a blowout, Spurs -12.
