Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trail Blazers Game 3 Preview
Where: Moda Center – Portland, Oregon
When: Saturday, April 22, 2017, 10:30 PM ET
Line: Golden State Warriors (-6) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (+6); total: 217.0 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
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Betting on the Golden State Warriors (-240)
Just in case that it’s still not obvious, the Warriors are still the far superior team here. They’ve proven this by scoring 115.5 points per game, and by beating the Blazers by double-digits throughout the first two games of the series.
Game 3, which is set to tip off this Saturday night, shouldn’t be any different. The Warriors swept the Blazers in the regular season, 4-0, and won by an average margin of 19.5 points. The Dubs also managed to eclipse the 100-point mark in all four games. Moreover, Golden State’s obviously not a stranger to the pressure of playing in front of a hostile crowd. The Warriors went 31-10 on the road this year, and the pair of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson has had tremendous success in most of those away games.
Curry is posting 24.4 points and 6.7 assists across 39 road games. Thompson, meanwhile, is tallying 21.4 points and 3.8 boards in almost the same stretch. They combined for just 35 points in the Game 2 win against Portland. They will need to step it up a notch as Kevin Durant is still questionable for Game 3 because of a calf injury.
Betting on the Portland Trail Blazers (+200)
What just happened to Portland? After a valiant effort in the series opener, the Blazers were clobbered by the Warriors in the second game, 110-81. What made the defeat such a bitter pill to swallow for the Blazers was that it came against a Warriors team that was missing its best player in Kevin Durant. Golden State’s depth came to the fore in that contest as five Warriors players scored in double-figures. Javale McGee provided a major spark off the bench, scoring 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the field in Game 2.
For the Blazers to record a shock result in Game 3, they will need to get much-improved performances from Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. After exploding for 75 points in Game 1, the backcourt duo combined for just 27 points on 9-of-34 shooting in Game 2. With Jusuf Nurkic still sidelined with a nondisplaced fracture in his right leg, the onus is on Lillard and McCollum to carry the offensive cudgels for the Blazers. They will need to play some flawless basketball if they are to upset the high-flying Warriors.
Sometimes that still isn’t enough, though, as they found out in a hard way in Game 1. It’s going to take a total team effort for Portland to upset such a talented team like Golden State. The good news for head coach Terry Stotts is that his bench showed some signs of improvement in the Game 2 loss to Golden State. After managing just nine points in the series opener, the Blazers’ reserves scored a total of 35 points in Game 2.
Writer’s Prediction
Golden State (-6) not only wins but also covers the spread in Game 3.
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