California Showdown – Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Clippers (16-50 SU, 26-40 ATS) at Golden State Warriors (23-43 SU, 31-34-1 ATS)

BetOnline NBA Odds: GOLDEN STATE -2.5, Total 223.5

Here are some of the NBA sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* LA has covered seven of its last 24 games

* LA has lost seven of its last eight games SU

* LA has lost its last five road games SU

* LA is 0-5 ATS in its last five road games

* LA has played 14 of its last 20 road games OVER the total

* GS has lost seven of its last ten games SU

* GS has played four of its last five games OVER the total

* GS has covered 15 of its last 22 home games

* GS has played six of its last seven home games OVER the total

Also…

* GS has covered four of the last six meetings

* GS has won five of the last six meetings SU

* GS has covered five of the last six meetings as the home team

* GS has won the last five meetings SU as the home team

* Five of the last seven meetings in Oakland have gone UNDER the total

* GS has had the shooting edge in five of the last six meetings

* GS has had the rebounding edge in four of the last six meetings

Both of these teams are hopelessly out of the Western Conference playoff race, and we would say that they are playing for pride, if in fact they had been showing any recently. The Warriors shot better than 48% on Sunday but allowed the Suns to shoot 62% in a 154-130 defeat. The Clippers won their last outings against the Nets on a buzzer-beating shot by Steve Novak, in a game where New Jersey’s Devin Harris had to leave the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

That win broke a seven-game losing streak for the "other" L.A. team, which had averaged just 91 points in those defeats, shooting less than 40% four times. It does not appear as if Golden State is going to be a team that puts the clamps on the Clips, and without their best defensive player, Stephan Jackson, who is serving a one-game suspension because he got hit with his 16th technical foul of the season on Sunday. Jamal Crawford will also sit out this game as he is being benched by Don Nelson in favor of Marco Belinelli and has been told he is certainly not going to be in a Golden State uniform next year, if Nelson has anything to say about it.

With Andres Biedrins also out, that leaves the Warriors without 52 points a game in its rotation. That doesn’t sap this team’s offensive strength, however, as long as they can put people like Corey Maggette, Monta Ellis and Kelenna Azubuike into the lineup.

Yeah, we spoke about pride. If Nelson’s players have any pride at all, they will want to redeem themselves for that horrible showing against Phoenix, especially in what amounts to a revenge game for them. The Clippers beat them with 51% shooting and 13 three-pointers at the Staples Center on February 23, so if there was a time for them to put forth a little defensive effort, it would be now. Not having Crawford involved may actually help from the defensive standpoint.

This is a reasonable number, and we’ll lay it with the Warriors, the 2.5-point favorite in the BetOnline Sportsbook NBA pro basketball betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: GOLDEN STATE -2.5 **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)