Warriors Look To End Slump, Host Clippers
Things got a little heated between the Clippers and Warriors on Christmas Day.
The Golden State Warriors host the Los Angeles Clippers in a nationally televised matchup between division rivals, Thursday night in Oakland.
Tip-off at Oracle Arena is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.
Golden State (27-19, 13-8 home) will be looking to gain ground on its Californian adversary, having already split a pair of games this season, including what turned out to be a heated affair on Christmas Day.
But more important than that, Mark Jackson’s Warriors will hope to put an end to a slump in form that has seen the side drop seven of the last 10, including four of the last five in Oakland.
The Clippers (33-15, 14-12 road) meanwhile will be looking to extend a run of form that has seen the side climb five games clear of the Warriors in the Pacific Division standings.
Doc Rivers’ side has picked up four wins in a row and taken 12 of the last 15. Perhaps even more remarkably, the Clippers are 10-3 since their perennial All-Star point guard, Chris Paul, succumbed to a shoulder injury.
The Clippers earned a 110-103 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, with forward Blake Griffin once more leading the team to success.
Griffin’s 29 points led the team while Jamal Crawford (21pts), J.J. Redick (20pts), Darren Collison (16pts), and DeAndre Jordan (14pts) all scored in double digits. Jordan also posted an impressive 17 boards, including five at the offensive end.
The victory saw the Clippers move to 19-3 at home this season, good enough for third in the league behind only the Indiana Pacers (21-1) and Oklahoma City Thunder (20-3).
Things have been very different on the road though. In an almost Jekyll and Hyde-esque turn, the Clippers are just 14-12 on the road, although much of that damage came earlier in the season. The Los Angeles team has won five of its last seven away from Staples Center.
Golden State will look to send the Clippers reeling on the road once more.
The Warriors didn’t fare as well as the Clippers when they hosted the Wizards on Tuesday night. In a low-scoring affair, Seth Curry’s 23 points and Andrew Bogut’s 14 rebounds weren’t enough to topple the Wizards, who went on to win 88-85.
Since tying the franchise best with 10 consecutive wins between December 21 and January 7, the Warriors have won just three of nine games, a run of form that has seen the side go from a battle at the top of the Pacific Division to sitting in seventh-place in the Western Conference standings.
Anything less than a win in Thursday’s rivalry game could see the side slipping perilously close to the drop zone.
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Golden State Warriors odds for 01/30/2014
Playing at home, Golden State opens as the favorite over Los Angeles and will look for a repeat of Christmas Day’s 105-103 victory at Oracle Arena.
Prior to this campaign, the Warriors had been victorious in six of their last eight meetings with the Clippers, a trend that had echoed the all-time matchup between these sides.
The Warriors are 113-83 (.577) all-time against the Clippers, a mark that represents the franchise’s second-best winning percentage against an active organization. Only a 20-14 (.588) tally against the Toronto Raptors betters that mark.
The spread opened at 4 and has subsequently risen to 5.5 with plenty of time left until tip-off.
The Clippers (28-20-0 ATS) have fared better than the Warriors (20-24-2 ATS) when it comes to covering the spread, and look to have an advantage in Thursday’s Pacific coast showdown.
The Clippers are 17-9-0 ATS on the road while the Warriors are a miserable 7-13-1 ATS at home.
Los Angeles is 8-4-0 ATS when playing as an underdog while Golden State is 15-20-2 ATS as the favorite.
The smart money is on the Clippers covering in this one, especially when you factor in that the Warriors are 1-5-0 ATS in their last six games at home.
However, Golden State is 6-3-0 ATS in its last nine games against the Clippers, so take caution.
The over/under opened at 211 and has risen to 212.5 with some sportsbooks.
The Clippers (26-20-2) have favored the over while the Warriors (20-25-1) have favored the under.
The total has gone over in seven straight games between the two sides, and six of the last seven played between the two at Oracle Arena. That’s where the smart money lies then.
After Thursday’s game, the Clippers and Warriors will meet once more this regular season, a March 12 showdown at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
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