Tag: Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors odds predictions pick betting line spread

The Los Angeles Clippers open their regular season by visiting the Golden State Warriors (1-0) Thursday at the Chase Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Clippers vs. Warriors odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.

L.A. advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals despite losing leading scorer SF Kawhi Leonard to injury in the conference semifinals. The Clippers lost to the Phoenix Suns 4-2 in the conference finals and Kawhi remains sidelined to start the season.

The Clippers finished the season 57-34 overall, 50-40-1 against the spread (ATS) and 44-45-2 Over/Under (O/U), including the postseason.

The Warriors opened their season with a 121-114 upset of the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday on NBA’s opening night as 3.5-point road underdogs.

Golden State’s depth was the difference in the game as the Warriors’ bench outscored the Lakers’ 55-29 as Steph Curry only scored 21 points on 5-of-21 shooting.

L.A. won and covered in two of the three regular-season meetings last year with Golden State. The Clippers had the same straight-up and ATS record vs. the Warriors the year prior, which was the first season Kawhi and Paul George played for L.A.

Clippers at Warriors odds, spread and lines

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:20 a.m. ET.

• Money line: Clippers +130 (bet $100 to win $130) | Warriors -160 (bet $160 to win $100)
• Against the spread (ATS): Clippers +3.5 (-112) | Warriors -3.5 (-108)
• Over/Under (O/U): 227.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)

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Clippers at Warriors key injuries

Clippers

• SF Kawhi Leonard (knee) out
• PF Serge Ibaka (back) out
• SF Nicolas Batum (personal) out
• PG Jason Preston (foot)

Warriors

• SG Klay Thompson (Achilles) out
• C James Wiseman (knee) out
• SF Jonathan Kuminga (knee) out

Clippers at Warriors odds, lines, picks and predictions

Prediction

Clippers 119, Warriors 112

Money line

PASS with a slight “lean” to the Clippers (+130) because I’m going to bet L.A. plus the points and generally like to sprinkle on an underdog’s money line when betting them to cover.

The Clippers were 4-8 overall as a road underdog last season, and the Warriors were 15-5 overall as a home favorite with a plus-9.2 margin of victory.

Plus I’m skeptical that L.A. can just pick up where it left off in the playoffs and be the team that upset the Utah Jazz without Kawhi. It was an awesome story last season but does that carry over into this year?

Against the spread

BET the CLIPPERS +3.5 (112) for 1 unit.

This is a “Pros vs. Joe’s” game with the presumed sharp money backing the Clippers whereas a majority of the bets placed are on the Warriors, according to Pregame.com at the time of publishing.

Typically, it’s profitable to follow the money in sports betting especially when it’s flowing in the opposite direction as the public.

Wednesday had five NBA games where the sharp money was oppo the public on the opening line; the money column went 4-1, according to Pregame.com.

The Lakers got a ton of open looks against the Warriors Tuesday but aren’t nearly as good of a 3-point shooting team as the Clippers. In fact, the Clippers led the NBA in 3-point shooting last season. G/F Paul George was fantastic last season against Golden State and Curry was subpar vs. L.A.

PG averaged 21.0 points per game (PPG) on 64.2% true shooting (.452/.526/.938) with 7.7 rebounds per game and 4.7 assists per game (APG) in three games against the Warriors. While Curry put up 21.3 PPG on 53.3% true shooting (.421/.393/.667) with 6.3 APG in his three games vs. L.A.

Over/Under

“LEAN” to the OVER 227.5 (-108) for a half unit because I prefer L.A. getting points more than the total in this game.

I expect the Clippers to play looser and shoot a higher volume of 3-pointers while Kawhi is sidelined with injury. Also, the Clippers-Warriors total opened with a 226.5-point total before “sharp” money has steamed this number up to the current price.

If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW. Please gamble responsibly.

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