San Antonio Spurs at Golden State Warriors (-7.5, 208.5)
The Golden State Warriors are looking very vulnerable lately and now want to win each in their four remaining games in an effort to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 regular-season wins. The trail to 73 should include two wins over the San Antonio Spurs, who visit the soldiers on Thursday.
Golden State lost to Boston on Friday to finish an NBA-record 54-game home winning streak and fell again at home on Tuesday in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves. "YOU MAY HAVE such a lot media attention and everyone talking about breaking the record and also you lose focus somewhat bit," Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who was a member of the 95-96 Bulls, told reporters. "THE SIMILAR thing happened TWO DECADES ago. (The Bulls) didn't play well down the stretch. This does not surprise me. It is easy to wander away in all these things. We have not been very dialed in of late.” The Spurs are just 3 1/2 games behind Golden State within the standings and now have a shot at 70 victories in the event that they win out. San Antonio scratched its well past Utah 88-86 to earn a fourth straight win on Tuesday and should have all of its starters available on Thursday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
LINE HISTORY: The soldiers opened as five-point favorites at home but by Thursday morning that line had quickly jumped to -7. It's likely that the Spurs will rest their starters for most, or all, of tonight's showdown. The whole opened at 210 and have been steady at that number. View complete line history here.
INJURY REPORT:
Spurs - B. Diaw (Out Thursday, groin).
Warriors - SF K. Looney (Out Thursday, hip).
COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Spurs (-15.8) - Warriors (-14.6) + home court (-3) = Warriors -1.8
MATCHUP CHART:
ABOUT THE SPURS (65-12, 43-34 ATS, 33-42-2 O/U): The belief was that San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich would rest starters within the two remaining games against the Warriors, but point guard Tony Parker refuted that notion in a postgame TV interview on Tuesday. “I think we'll play," Parker said within the interview. "Utah, I ASSUMED (Popovich) was going to rest everybody. But we played Utah, so I DO NOT see any reason we aren't playing Golden State.” That win over the Jazz marked the 1,000th career regular-season victory for Spurs center Tim Duncan, making him the third player in history (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1,074, and Robert Parish, 1,014) to succeed in the mark.ABOUT THE SOLDIERS (69-9, 42-34-2 ATS, 43-34-1 O/U): Golden State bounced back from its last to the Celtics by cruising past the Portland Trail Blazers 136-111 on Sunday but had the similar problems crop up against the Timberwolves on Tuesday that plagued it in other losses this season. “We’re seeking to hit the house run, in preference to only a bunch of singles,” Kerr told reporters after his team committed a season-high 24 turnovers. “…Bad coaching. Bad playing. Bad everything.” The letdown came despite the return of sixth man Andre Iguodala, who sat out the former 13 games with a sprained ankle.
DANCE TEAM BATTLE:
TRENDS:* Spurs are 2-12 ATS of their last 14 games following a straight up win.* Warriors are 4-0 ATS of their last 4 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of more than .600.* Under is 11-0 in Spurs last 11 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.* Under is 6-0 in Warriors last 6 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.* Under is 4-0 within the last 4 meetings.* Home team is 4-0 ATS within the last 4 meetings.
COVERS CONSENSUS: The early action in this matchup is at the Warriors (56 percent) and the Over (58 percent).
TWEET BEAT:
Read More... [Source: Covers.com: NBA News and Stories]
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