A potential look at the Western Conference Finals happens on Friday night as Phoenix heads to Golden State. These two teams have been red hot lately, but even Golden State hasn’t kept up with the Suns.
The last time the Suns lost a game was their fourth game of the season. Since that date, the Suns have won 18 straight games, a franchise record.
Don’t forget that up until their recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Warriors were on a streak too. They had won seven games in a row before losing to the Suns, 104-96.
There are some key players out in this game for the Suns that could help the Warriors. For starters, Devin Booker has been ruled out for this game. At least the Warriors won’t have to worry about Booker tonight.
Phoenix Suns Betting Preview: Can they win without Booker?
This is probably one of the most looming questions around the Phoenix Suns. To be fair, even in their recent game against the Warriors, Booker only scored ten points.
However, having him out on the court is already a threat that the Warriors have to game plan for. Since he’s been ruled out, the Warriors can plan accordingly. Still, the Suns are a dangerous team without Booker.
One of the players emerging as an incredible shooter and defender is Mikal Bridges. In Booker’s absence, we expect Bridges will play a much larger role in the offense.
As always, Chris Paul will do the distributing, one of the best to do it in the NBA. So, the answer is yes; even without Devin Booker, the Suns can win this game. However, they’re playing the Warriors at home now.
Golden State Warriors Betting Preview: Ready to run it back
You have to imagine that the Warriors are excited to run this game back after their loss. This was one of the few times this season the Warriors were overwhelmed by shooting.
However, they can rest slightly easier knowing that Devin Booker won’t be in the lineup. Unfortunately, the Warriors are missing a few players of their own, James Wiseman and Andre Iguodala.
Those might not seem like significant injuries when you take a first glance at them. However, these are both players that come off the bench to provide relief for the starters.
They’re also responsible for putting up points when the starters are out. Now the Golden State Warriors will have to go further down the lineup to substitute Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Betting Odds & Lines and Our Pick For Friday Night
The Golden State Warriors come into this game as 7-point favorites. Not too surprising considering the injuries on the Suns’ lineup. Although the Suns have a fairly good record against the spread (12-10), they’re slightly behind Golden State.
The Warriors have an incredible ATS record of 15-5-1, one of the best in the entire NBA. Still, seven points are quite a lot to cover.
With Booker out and the Warriors playing at home, we like their odds to cover here. One of the reasons why we like it is they have the No.1 defense in the NBA. On average, the Warriors allowed just 100.52 points per game and score an average of 113.14 ppg.
With a great defense, a great offense, and Phoenix missing Devin Booker, we’ll take the Warriors. We do, however, expect to see these teams face again further down the line.
Our Pick: Golden State Warriors -7
