Playoff Hopes Still Alive For Two NBA Legends

Warriors vs. Clippers, 10:00 ET

As a sports bettor, there are a lot of rules and things to remember. One of them that I try to keep in mind as often as possible is that a closed mind and stubbornness on a topic can lead to quick losses. If I tried to just keep my same thought on a team and not accept them for what they've shown, I would take a lot more losses than if I were continuously evaluating teams. I need to take the Warriors for what they are as they take on the Clippers tonight in the 9th vs. 10th place game. 

The Warriors still have Steph Curry. Does that really matter, though? Yes, it makes a huge difference for their team. With him, the Warriors were 24-19 according to StatMuse. Without him, they were 13-26. That comes out to a team winning about 46 games if he was available for all of them. Sure, Jimmy Butler was around for some of those, too. However, he was replaced with Kristaps Porzingis after he went down with injury. Curry has only been back for a few games, but he looks just as good as ever. In the Warriors last game, Curry actually played almost 30 minutes. I was a bit surprised to see it if we are being honest. The Warriors eventually called it and had 13 different guys play in the game. They lost to the Clippers 115-110 in a fairly meaningless game. 

John Hefti-Imagn Images

The Clippers ended the season above .500, but this team looks a lot different than the team that started the season. Kwahi Leonard is still on the team and still the main guy. If he is healthy, he is as good as anyone in the league, but his worst ability is availability. Outside of Leonard, the team has some good pieces. John Collins is a reliable big, and Brook Lopez mostly just stretches the floor now. Darius Garland replaced James Harden, and he is fine. If he gets hot, the team will be hard to beat. He's not quite like Jamal Murray when he starts getting buckets, but he is a reasonable alternative and does have his moments. Their bench is full of scoring, but not much defense. 

I expect the full team to be back for both of these teams. Draymond Green was out in the last game because of a back injury, but he should be here. Leonard was out due to his ankle, but he should suit up. At full strength, I have to think the Clippers can win it. The problem is that I don't buy into either of these teams. Curry is hard to bet against. Leonard is also in that category. I think Tryonn Lue is a better coach from a strategy standpoint than Steve Kerr. I like the points here, but I'm not playing that. I think both teams try to lock in here on defense, and we see a more competitive game. Give me the under 220.5 in this. 

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