10:05 pm
December 29

Warriors @ Trail Blazers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Golden State Warriors (23-13)

@ Portland Trail Blazers (20-15)

 

Current odds:

Golden State Warriors: (-190)

Portland Trail Blazers: (+160)

 

• The line for the game is Golden State by 4.5 points.

• Golden State dropped its last two games and three of the last five as it continues to look for the form that took the team to three of the last four NBA titles. “It was just kind of stagnant in the first half,” Warriors star Stephen Curry told reporters. “Not a lot of thrust and energy and aggressiveness. Defensively we were OK after the first three or four minutes. Other games it’s been indecisiveness in certain stretches of the game. We’re getting teams best shots, so we got to fight our way through it. And just claw and scratch and get to that 48-minute level that we dominate teams, and we can get there.” Curry finished with 29 points and seven assists on Thursday but committed the turnover that led to Lillard’s go-ahead 3-pointer.

• Portland center Jusuf Nurkic collected 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 12 rebounds on Thursday as he took advantage of a Warriors team lacking a true center. “Nurk carried us during that stretch,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. “The way he finished on the block, he had a good matchup. It was disappointing when he drew some double teams, he made some nice passes and we got some wide-open shots. We haven’t done that a lot but to be able to play through him like that was a real advantage for us against their small lineup.” Nurkic was one of the few Portland players to enjoy a decent shooting night Thursday, with the rest of the club shooting 32.2 percent from the floor.

• Warriors SG Klay Thompson went 2-of-9 from 3-point range and is shooting 20.8 percent from beyond the arc over the last eight contests.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Golden State Warriors
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