GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS VS DENVER NUGGETS
1.55
TOTAL (INCLUDING OVERTIME) - OVER 228.5
The stacked Western Conference is just getting more stacked. The Warriors took care of the Lakers in Los Angeles last night. Tonight they face the Nuggets at home in San Francisco. This matchup is huge with just a couple of games left to play of the regular season.
The Warriors defeated the LA Lakers 123-116 last night. Steph Curry scored 37 points and had six dimes. Curry only made four out of his eleven attempts from behind the arc. The biggest hero of the night for Golden State was the shooting guard Brandin Podziemski. Brandin had a great game with 28 points scored. Podziemski made an impressive amount of eight three pointers out of ten attempts. Brandin had eight boards, six assists and one steal. One of his best games ever in the NBA. Podziemski stepped up for the team when it was needed.
As of late Jonathan Kuminga has received some criticism for his effort on the floor. Kuminga answered them all in Los Angeles last night, Kuminga scored 18 points off the bench, had nine rebounds, four dimes and one block. Jonathan was a plus nine. Kuminga made seven out of his 12 shot attempts. The bench was the main reason behind the Warriors win yesterday and Kuminga led the bench.
The Warriors have made a truly serious push since the Jimmy Butler trade. Golden State has won four straight versus The Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans. Golden State has won 18 out of their last 21 games. The Warriors currently sit at the 5th seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets are at the third seed with 30 lost games. Just as the Lakers have at the 4th spot. Golden State has 31 losses. The Grizzlies are at 32 lost games at the 6h spot currently. They had a huge win last night versus the Miami Heat. Minnesota is at the 7th seed with 32 losses and the Clippers is at the eight position, also with 32 lost games. The seven and the eight seed will end up in the play-in. The Nuggets and the Warriors have faced each other twice this season and have won one game each.
The Nuggets have lost two straight games to their nemesis Minnesota and the San Antonio Spurs. All of the starters were rested against the Spurs. In the double overtime loss to the Timberwolves Nikola Jokic played for more than 52 minutes (out of 58 in total). The best big man in the world scored 61 points, had eleven boards and ten dimes. Still it was not enough to beat the Wolves. Russel Westbrook made some really poor decisions in the end of the game and the Nuggets have now lost six straight against Minnesota (including last season's playoffs). The Wolves have The Nuggets number, to say the least. The Nuggets have only won four out of their last ten games. With five games left of the regular season it will be a challenge for them to stay amongst the top four teams in the very stacked Western Conference.
While the Golden State Warriors are on a back to back with travel the Nuggets have a rest advantage for this game at the Chase Center. With only one single loss being the difference between the two ball clubs in the standings the relevance of the game tonight is more than huge. A potential home court advantage could be gone with a loss for both teams. As far as the Denver Nuggets go, Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon are probable. A bunch of players are doubtful to play the game. Jamal Murray, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther and Christian Braun are all questionable. My bet is that Jokic will play. Gary Payton is out for the Warriors and Kuminga is probable.