Not Exactly Road Warriors – Golden State at San Antonio

Most of the attention in the basketball world is on March Madness and the upcoming Sweet 16 this weekend, but the NBA is also a good place to get those bets in because this is time of year when teams can be counted on.

A team like San Antonio, which often plays possum for much of the year waiting until late when they can flip that proverbial “switch” and gear up for their forthcoming playoff run, is usually a much more dependable and predictable squad later in the year.

They will play a Golden State team that is usually anything but predictable since they are capable of having hot shooting nights and beating just about any team in the NBA on any given night.

One thing Golden State doesn’t do well however is play on the road. Despite San Antonio struggling of late, the fact the Warriors are an awful road team explains the Spurs being installed as 8-point favorites.

The Warriors come into this game with nothing to play for and are slumping, having lost 6 of 10 games recently. Golden State is also just 6-29 on the road on the year and if they don’t shoot well early, it might be time for Don Nelson’ crew to lay down and pack it in. If they aren’t shooting the ball well their defense isn’t going to win them any games. The Warriors have given up more than 111 points on the road this season, and that will cost you some ball games.

Meanwhile, the Spurs have beaten the Warriors at home the last five times the two teams have met. The favorite has often fared well against the spread in this series, and that seems to make the Spurs the best bet in this one.

With the over/under set at 207 ½ points and the Warriors prone to giving up numbers in the hundreds, the prediction here is that the Spurs shoot well at home, give the crowd some to cheer about, and then wrap the victory up with some timely stops leading to big runs.

Tim Duncan and company aren’t the same squad they were 3-4 years ago but they are still on a far different level than a team like the Warriors and when the time comes to put inferior opposition away, the San Antonio Spurs handle their business as well as any other team in the league. This is a great bet for the Spurs to cover the 8-point spread tonight and possibly take this one over the total.

The Pick: San Antonio (-8.5)