Sports Picks & Predictions

We lost our big play on the Spurs for Game 2, but we still think that they have a great chance to win this series. We expect them to play strong in both games in Miami and win at least one, and it would not shock us to see them pull off the sweep here. Just think the Spurs are a better overall team and that they have much stronger motivation here as this is probably their last chance at a championship in the Duncan era. We expect Miami to slip up somewhere along the way. Just think there is great value here in this line as this is about the most points you will see the Spurs catching in any situation. Also think there is some good value on the under as the Spurs do not play as well offensively on the road as they do at home, and both defenses should be going all out tonight, and these are two of the best defensive units in the NBA. We expect a close game here and think the Spurs have a great chance for the straight up win.

We like the Spurs for all the same reasons we went with them in Game 1. We think that this series is kind of a mismatch and that the Spurs should take care of business in 6 games or less. The bookies have basically placed the same line here for Game 2. Normally when the home team wins the first game the bookies will lower the spread for Game 2, but that has not happened. That tells us that the bookies want to drive in Miami money on this game. The beauty of this bet is that in Game 1 the Spurs didn’t play anywhere near their potential and still won by 15. Of course they were helped by LeBron James going down with cramps, but San Antonio really turned it on when it mattered most. We think they play a much more focused game here in Game 2, and we expect them to win here pretty convincingly. The Spurs always play well at home in this series and have covered four of the last five meetings after that Game 1 win and cover. More importantly, the Spurs are 13-3 ATS at home against teams with a winning road record, which shows just how dominant they are against the best of the best. We just think Miami is way overrated this season. This team didn’t wow anyone in the east where the conference had one of the worst seasons in memory. Since they dominated a horrible set of playoff opponents people have put too much faith in this team. In our minds these teams are not even close. Plus, all the motivation is here with the Spurs, who are really probably going for their last championship in a long time. Many franchises have not ever even been to the NBA Finals, and if this team gets broken up soon they will probably have a hard time getting back here any time soon. It could be the franchise’s last chance for a championship for decades, and the players are really tied to this city probably more than any other team in the NBA. On the other side of the court you have a Miami team that has been coasting most of the season. They have won two championships in a row, and it just does not seem like they have the same kind of desire this time around.

The Spurs really should have won this series last year. Although the Heat earned the series with their comeback in Game 6, there was a lot of luck involved, and everyone forgets about the horrible no-call on Manu Ginobili at the end of that game. The Heat had a lot of advantages last season that they won’t have this season. Chief among them if home-court advantage, and the Spurs have one of the best ones in the league. Their offense is almost unstoppable at home, and we expect them to thrive here during the entire series. The Spurs have also been tested so much more than the Heat, not only during the playoffs but also the regular season. This has been one of the most down years we can remember for any conference that the Eastern Conference had this season. Miami slogged through most of the season without much intensity. They should have had a much better record playing in the east. And although you can say that the Heat have shown they turn things on in the playoffs while sleepwalking through the regular season, this year just seems different. Because of how bad the east was. And the eastern representatives in the playoffs were a joke. Any team from the west would have beaten any team from the east besides Miami in a 7-game series. Miami has not played anyone. Charlotte was just pitiful. The Nets were very inconsistent and are a year or two and some players away from being a contender. Indiana peaked way earlier in the season and was just playing horrible basketball during the playoffs, especially on offense. The Spurs had incredibly tough series against the Mavericks, Memphis and OKC. They are battle tested. And we can’t understate how big revenge is here. The Spurs knew they blew it last season, and this really may be their last chance to get another championship before they start to regress back to the mean. We just love how ruthless this team has been all season, and after what happened last year we don’t think they will take anything for granted and will leave everything on the court on every play. Just think the Spurs are better this season and that the Heat are worse and that all the motivation lies here with the Spurs. We actually think that the Spurs should be bigger favorites here, and that Miami is getting more respect than they deserve based on reputation. Of course the Heat have the best player in the league, but the Spurs have more balance and better coaching, and we think that they start real strong here in Game 1. Also, the home team has been dominant both SU and ATS in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Just think that this game will play out the same way that the series has played out so far with the home team dominating. The Thunder have looked bad on the road all series long, but this team has looked like a different squad at home, the same with the Spurs. Durant and Westbrook should have great shooting nights tonight, and the Thunder should get the benefit of home cooking from the refs.  The Thunder have had a long history of success at home in this series, and they are 10-1 ATS in the last 11 meetings in OKC! This has looked like a 7-Game series all along, and we think that is exactly what happens as the Thunder extend their season at least one more game tonight.

Just think Miami takes care of business here and closes this series out with an exclamation point.  We think they get the double-digit win here tonight. Both meetings in Miami in this series were of the double-digit variety. And the Pacers were lucky in Game 5 that LeBron James was in big foul trouble as that is likely the only reason they won that game and extended the series. We thought the Pacers would play strong in Game 5 and extend the series, but we just think that was their last gasp and that the better team will prevail tonight. The east was so bad this year that both teams probably looked better than they actually were, but Miami is the only true contender out of these teams, and they have turned it on in the playoffs after a lackluster regular season.

We loved the way the Thunder took back momentum in Game 3 and expect them to play well again tonight. With the Eastern Conference Finals looking like it will be over quickly, we think the refs will get heavily involved here to give the Thunder the best chance to extend this series. It will not hurt that they are at home, either. And with Ibaka back for OKC, this really puts them at full strength, and we really don’t think these teams are that far apart even though the Spurs are the big favorite in this series and had the best record in the NBA. But OKC matches up well, and they have been dominant against the spread in this series even with the Spurs covering the first two games in San Antonio. We expect this one to go pretty much like Game 3 did, and we also think that the Thunder have a real chance in this series overall.

The Pacers had not lost consecutive games this postseason until Games 2 and 3 of this series. But they played a lot better in Game 3 and actually started off the game with a big lead. We think a big issue for them was foul trouble, which disrupted their continuity. Miami had some foul trouble as well, but this team is much better equipped to weather the situation than the Pacers, who need every available starter at their disposal, is. Just expect this to be a closer game, and a straight up win would not be shocking. Indiana has done some of its best work on the road in these playoffs, and also they have been super resilient as they always come up with a big game out of nowhere when people start to count them out. We also think the line is very telling here as the Heat are the big public team and they have this listed pretty much the same as Game 3, so you figure some of the bookies must be wanting Heat money here. We will side with the bookies here as we expect this to be a close game that goes down to the wire.

San Antonio has made it look easy in Games 1 and 2, but betting the NBA is never as easy as just thinking the Spurs will continue to dominate, and we think that the Thunder will still make a series of this one. Just because the Spurs rolled at home does not mean that the Thunder can’t rebound in OKC, and we think that is exactly what will happen.  There is a chance Serge Ibaka could be back for this game, and he will help the team, but even if he does not play the Thunder normally take a couple games to get back on track when they have had major injuries in the past. And this OKC team has had a lot of success over the Spurs as they have covered five straight before these two losses in San Antonio, and we expect the Thunder stars to perform a lot better in front of the home crowd as they have been cold the first two games. We also expect the Thunder to get the benefit of favorable calls from the refs.

We think the Pacers have a great chance to keep this one close. They have done their best work on the road lately, and they are 5-0 ATS in their last five road games in these playoffs.  This is actually the most points  that the Pacers have been catching this season – both in the regular season and playoffs. This team was pretty good as an underdog this year at 12-8 ATS. Paul George was injured with a concussion in Game 2, but all signs point to him coming back to play here in Game 3. We do like Miami for this series but just can’t pass up this amount of points for a Pacers team that has played very well on the road and a team that always plays Miami tough. We think both defenses will be strong here and that this game will be low scoring, which makes the points all the more valuable here for Game 3.

We think the Thunder are in a big bounce-back situation here tonight. Not sure if they will win the game straight up, but they should be in this one right to the end, and we think taking the points is the only way to go here for Game 2. Before that Game 1 loss, the Thunder had won and covered in the previous five meetings. They have covered in 10 of the last 13 meetings, with one push. So we know the Thunder match up well here.  We think the loss of Serge Ibaka hurt OKC in Game 1 but that they will make some adjustments to make up for his loss here. As we saw in the Clippers series, the Thunder are great at bouncing back from a loss. They are 4-0 ATS when their opponent scores 100 or more in the previous game and 3-0-1 ATS after an ATS loss. We think Durant and Westbrook will really come on in this game, and with this one closer throughout we expect the Thunder to play more focused and challenge for the straight up win.

Yes, Indiana looked great in a dominating Game 1 win here at home, but if there is anything you can say about the Pacers the last couple months is that they have been inconsistent. This team can look great one night and then look horrible the next, and we expect Miami to play a lot better here in Game 2. The Heat have so much experience, and this team has faced every possible situation in the playoffs. We guarantee that they are not even sweating that Game 1 loss and that they are just looking to play better in this next game. We think all the pressure is still on the Pacers here, and this team has shown it is not the best at facing pressure in this postseason.

Some might think the Pacers are “back” after rallying to beat the Wizards in their second-round series. We don’t think this team is back, and we just think they benefited from a horrible Eastern Conference. The Hawks gave Indiana all they could handle in the first round. This Hawks team had to business being in the playoffs this season, and this is one of the worst playoff teams we have seen in years. Washington was a better team, but this was also a pretty bad team that was getting its first taste of the playoffs, and Indiana should have swept them. Miami has hardly broken a sweat these playoffs. They played better teams in both series. Charlotte is a strong defensive team, but Miami had to trouble in sweeping them. Brooklyn was a team that had swept them in the regular season and had all sorts of playoff experience. The Heat made it look easy against them. Just don’t think that these teams are even close right now, and this is probably the most value-packed line you will get for Miami this series. The Pacers have lost four of their seven playoff games at home, and this team has lost the home-court advantage they have held almost all season. They have been an even worse 3-5 ATS. Miami looks to have the easiest path to the Finals of any season since the Big 3 got together in South Beach, and we think that they will dominate here in Game 1 to set the tone of this series.

NBA Game of the Month:

Really love the Pacers in this spot, and this line was released even better than we had hoped for. We were on the Wizards earlier in the series, but their playoff inexperience started to show big time in losing three straight to the Pacers. Indiana looked awful in losing Game 5 by more than 20 points. We think they used up all their energy in the Game 4 comeback win, and this team has been so helter skelter for a while that you can’t really judge them on their last game. This team has not lost consecutive games since early April in the regular season. More than any other team in the playoffs the Pacers have followed the zig zag theory of betting on a team after they lose. While we are not big fans of this theory, it really does seem to apply to an Indiana team that seems to have multiple personalities. But we were really down on Indiana at the beginning of the playoffs. However, their three-game winning streak over the Wizards in this series showed us this team is somewhat back and can play up to its capabilities. They didn’t have much urgency in Game 5, but we expect them to have it here, especially since the Heat have closed out their series and are resting up right now. And the Pacers, for whatever reason, have done their best work on the road lately. They have won four of their five playoff games on the road this postseason and six of their last eight road games overall stretching back to the regular season. We think that Indiana has a real good chance to win this game straight up tonight, but the points here are just a bonus in case this game is close.

We thought at the start of this series that the Blazers had a chance since the Spurs looked so lousy for most of their series against Dallas while the Blazers looked like a real contender in their defeat of Houston. But now that this series has played out we feel as if the Spurs are rounding into championship form while the Blazers are probably happy to be getting some playoff experience here and should be headed for an extended offseason tonight. We think the Game 4 loss in Portland was more of the Spurs having an off game and relaxing a bit rather than the Blazers dominating. But this San Antonio team knows it can’t afford long series every time as they need time to rest and gameplan for the Western Conference Finals. Popovich is such a great coach, and he will have his team motivated tonight. When this team is playing up to it’s capabilities the Blazers should be no match tonight.

The Clippers picked up some major momentum in their come-from-behind Game 4 win at home in one of the most exciting finishes to a playoff game in quite awhile. We just think this one will be another close, hard-fought game that the Clippers could definitely win straight up if everything goes their way. LA has not played a game yet where they got full contributions from everyone on the team, and if some of these role players can step up this is a very dangerous team. But this is the best line we have gotten for the Clippers during this series, and we think all the value lies in them in what we expect to be a close game. The Clippers are 14-6 ATS in the last 20 meetings in OKC, so they have historically played well here, and we expect that to be the case tonight.

The Spurs have looked pretty dominant in the first two games of this series, but we like the heart that Portland showed down the stretch of Game 2, and we think that they can still make some noise in this series. Portland has been a bit above average on the road all season, but this team has been very good at home and has almost as good of a record at home than the Spurs do, and they have one of the best home-court advantages as well with a raucous crowd. Also, the Blazers probably know they aren’t a real serious title contender this season, and they were not even expected to beat Houston. So we think there is not much pressure on them in this Game 3 and they can play free and loose and play their game. The Spurs have not done well here historically and are 3-10 ATS in the last 13 meetings here. We see the Blazers winning this game and making a series of this.

We love the Clippers for this series. They took a step back in Game 2, but we are willing to give them a mulligan. Kevin Durant completely went off after getting his MVP award and Russell Westbrook had a very good game also, and the Thunder had a couple other players step up as well. Even with all that the Clippers still hung in there and made the final score respectable when most teams would have lost that game by 20+. Not to mention the Clippers had some key players, including Chris Paul, in foul trouble. Not only should the Clippers get the benefit of some favorable calls now that the series switches back to LA, but this is one of the best home teams in the league as they have lost only 8 games here all season. This team will get better contributions at home from the likes of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, who have not played well yet this series. And Paul seems to be healing as these last two games were his best of the playoff so far, and he seems to finally be getting a full range of movement back and is playing with tons of confidence right now. The Clippers just have too many weapons, and it is unlikely the Thunder are going to have someone step up with a major contribution other than their two stars, and it just seems like the Clippers have a couple guys who are due to step up and make some noise here in Game 3. We see more of the Game 1 Clippers showing up here and think that the oddsmakers are giving too much respect here for a Thunder team that we think is the favorite in this series in name only.

Both of the road teams got blown out on Tuesday in their opening games of the second round. Of those two we think the Blazers have the best chance to bounce back tonight. This is a team that has to shoot the ball very well in order to have success, and they were just terrible on Tuesday with a shooting percentage less than 35% for most of the game. Some of that was the Spurs defense but some was also just missing shots, and we think that the Blazers were due a bad game after all the hoopla over their buzzer-beater against Houston and the fact that they even won that series as an underdog. We think those numbers will even out for shooting and expect them to do a lot better in that department here. We also don’t think the Spurs play quite as well as they did in Game 1 as everything went right for them. But we are still not convinced this team is the true best in the west after Dallas pushed them to the brink in their first-round series, and we expect this game to be much closer and will chock that Game 1 result up to just a bad game for the visitors.

Indiana had a tough time with the Hawks in the first round, and they were the worst team in the NBA Playoffs by far. They have a much tougher opponent this time around, and the Wizards have a great chance to win this series quickly, in our opinion. Washington is playing their best basketball of the season right now and peaking in the playoffs. This team was inconsistent in the regular season, but they are dialed in now, and they are also well rested after making quick work of Chicago in their opening-round series. The Pacers are just not right, and we don’t see them playing as well in this series as they did against the Hawks. They rebounded well from some bad games in that series, but this is a much stronger team they are facing here. Just think this Indiana team is broken right now, and they don’t have any time to fix the situation or look for answers in their current situation.

We don’t think that this Miami team is the same club that won the NBA Finals last season, and we think that they are going to have some problems winning it all this season. This team normally sleepwalks through portions of the regular season, but this season it seemed as if they really struggled a lot more than normal. It takes so much drive and desire to win an NBA Championship, and we don’t think the Heat have that fire this season. Not saying they will lose this series, but we think as the playoffs go on that this team will hit some bumps in the road. Their first-round opponent, Charlotte, was just happy to be in the postseason. But their Tuesday semifinals opponent Brooklyn has real championship aspirations and should be a more formidable opponent. That’s not to mention that they match up well and even swept the season series 4-0. Just think this series will be a real battle and that this Game 1 line is way too high. Great value in the underdogs here as we think this line should be closer to 4.5 or 5.0.

This has been a great series, and we expect a great and hotly-contested Game 7. These teams are in-state rivals and know each other well, and the Mavs have shown that they are not intimidated by playing in San Antonio, which is known as one of the toughest places in the NBA for opposing clubs to succeed. But Dallas is one of the best road teams in the NBA, and they have shown all series that they match up well with San Antonio. We would not be shocked at all for a Dallas straight up win. Everyone remembers the Spurs run to the NBA Finals last season but no one is talking about all the times the Spurs excelled in the regular season and then fell way short in the postseason. We expect a close, hard-fought game here that should go right down to the end.

The Clippers came within one point of closing the Warriors out in Game 6, and that was despite playing a really lousy game. We think they will get back on track here at home for Game 7 and roll to a pretty comfortable win just like in Game 5. Game 6 was really ugly and the Clippers two best players, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, were both in foul trouble. We think that they get the benefit of some favorable calls here in Game 7 and that they will both be much more of a factor than they were in the Bay Area last time out. Jermaine O’Neal for the Warriors hyper extended his knee in that last game, and although he is listed as questionable the injury looked pretty bad and we doubt he will be too effective if he does play. And that gives the Clippers a huge advantage down low with the sixe they have with Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The Clippers are 5-1 in the last six meetings at Staples Center, and we just have to go with the stronger team here in this close-out game and we expect the home team to come out focused and ready to dominate.

We mistakenly went with Golden State in Game 5 in LA on Tuesday. That is before the commish came down hard on Clippers owner Donald Sterling with a lifetime ban. That really changed everything with this team. We think the Clippers are the most complete team in the playoffs and that they have a great chance to represent the west in the finals. Now that this burden is off their shoulders we think they close the pesky Warriors out tonight. Remember in Game 3 they were up big here and brought some ferocious perimeter defense that frustrated the Warriors all game long. Golden State did rally, but they were forced to take some crazy shots from way behind the 3-point line. We give the Clippers a mulligan for Game 4 because of the controversy, and with OKC and San Antonio struggling we think the Clippers really want to end this series early and give Chris Paul a chance to rest his hamstring and also for this team to take a collective breath as it has been a real whirlwind of a week for them dealing with a hotly-contested playoff series as well as an unprecedented NBA controversy that has really showed just how strong and focused this team is.

We expect Brooklyn to win this series and think there is a great chance that they score a road win tonight here. This team has been inconsistent all season, but we just think that they had one of those “off” games in Game 4 and that this team is still the better overall club top to bottom. The underdog has been the play in this series in just about every game, as it has throughout the NBA Playoffs as a whole, and we think that is the play here tonight. The Nets were off offensively in Game 4, but we think that they will make the necessary adjustments needed to challenge for the win here tonight. We expect a close game throughout and for the Nets to pull away late in the fourth. But taking the points here protects us in case of a Toronto buzzer beater.

It is amazing to us that the oddsmakers have not made a major adjustment to this line. This is about where the line should be without all the distractions the Clippers have had to deal with regarding the Donald Sterling saga. This team looked lost in their blowout loss in Game 4 on Sunday (we were on Golden State after taking the Clippers in all three previous games). This team just did not look like itself, and we don’t see how anything is going to be any different in this game. Doc Rivers is trying to put on a strong face as the leader of this team, but he seems kind of lost and confused, and his tactics definitely did not work in Game 4 as the team looked flat. The Clippers skipped practice on Monday. This was one of the most important practice days in team history and Doc Rivers just gave his players the day off. That can’t help their case on the court Tuesday night. That is not to mention that Golden State has some major momentum here in this game. The Clippers are losing endorsements left and right, and no one would blame the players and coaches if they just bowed out of this playoffs quietly, and we are pretty sure that is what is going to happen. This is one of the most unique situations in NBA history, and we think we are ahead of the oddsmakers in their adjustment to the line here. We had a “test” in Game 4 to see if the Clippers players would rise above the controversy and play in spite of their owner, and we think they failed that test. So why would anyone think they are going to come out and play the same way at home that they did before the controversy just after they got that one bad game out of their system? We’re not buying it, and Golden State is the clear play here.

We were on the Spurs in Game 3 and they lost a close one, but we still think that they are the rightful favorite in this series and that they will find a way to rise up and win this game. In the writeup for the last game we talked about Dallas’s horrible home ATS record, and now after that rare Game 3 cover they are 5-15 ATS at home against above-.500 teams. We already like the Spurs a lot tonight even without those trends, but the Mavs track record in home games ATS can’t be discounted. Just think there is so much pressure for both teams in this crucial Game 4 tonight and that the Spurs with their personnel and coaching and more better equipped to handle the situation. Just don’t see the Spurs going on the brink of elimination tonight, and we expect them to win and cover this spread with a couple points to spare.

We think this is one of the easiest calls of the season. Of course the Clippers are embroiled in controversy right now as a audio tape leaked yesterday which is alleged to be the voice of Clippers owner Donald Sterling spewing racist sentiment. This story has now taken on a life of its own and is the top story nationwide in the news and even the President has weighed in. We leaned towards Golden State to begin with before all this came out. But now the Clippers have to deal with what is probably the biggest distraction in playoff history. Best-case scenario this team is very focused at the task at hand and able to block this stuff out (unlikely). But yesterday was probably the most important practice day in team history as they get ready to play their biggest game in team history, and dealing with this controversy was all the players could think about all day. LA did a great job of defending the perimeter in Game 3, but the Warriors will likely shoot a lot better in this game. And who would blame LA if they laid an egg here? We still think they will get it together and win the series, but playing in one of the toughest arenas in the NBA against a very good team under the pressure cooker of controversy is going to be too much for this team today.

Love the Spurs in this spot for Game 3 back in the Big D. We were on the Mavs in Game 2 on the road, and they won straight up. While this team has been a great bet on the road all season, that just hasn’t been the case at home. This team is just 17-24 ATS at home compared to 29-14 ATS on the road. The most glaring ATS statistic, however, is their home ATS mark against winning teams: 4-15. This team always underwhelms at home against top teams, and now they face the top team record-wise in the entire NBA that has its back against the wall and is in nearly a must-win situation. We expect the Spurs to come out strong in this one. There is no doubting that the Mavs have played well in this series. That win in Game 2, however, broke a 10-game winning streak by the Spurs over their in-state rivals. The Mavs had a great gameplan to counter the Spurs strengths in Game 2, but Popovich is the best coach in the game, and we have no doubt he will make the adjustments needed to get home-court advantage back with a big win in Game 3.

NBA Game of the Week:

The Clippers Game 1 loss was a fluke. The team was off all night and Blake Griffin was in foul trouble and played only 19 minutes before fouling out. But LA showed during Game 2 that this is a real mismatch in winning by 40 points. This reminds us of the regular season when LA lost a head-scratcher to the Lakers in the first game before becoming a pretty dominant team in the regular season. Maybe this team has first-game jitters or something. But we expect more of the Game 2 Clippers in this one. Yes, the Warriors won both meetings at Oracle this season. In one of those games Griffin got tossed while the Clippers were up in the fourth. He is obviously the key for this team (not to mention that Golden State has absolutely no answer for him). The other game was on a back-to-back and without Chris Paul. And the Clippers have taken their game to another level since they played here, and they are a healthy and complete team. We don’t think we will see any more hiccups from this club, and we think they have a great chance to win both games here in the Bay Area. After that Game 2 performance we think that this line should be about 4 or 5, and we would take the Clippers enthusiastically even at those numbers.

We were on the Clippers big in Game 1 of this series, and even though they lost straight up we still think this is the better team. Out of all the Game 1 upsets, this one had the most cases of extenuating circumstances of any of those games. The refs were horrible in this game, and they even admitted after the game they screwed up in a non-call at the end on Chris Paul that would have given the Clippers a chance to tie the game up and send it to OT. And Blake Griffin was on the wrong end of some questionable calls and was in such bad foul trouble the entire game that he played only 19 minutes. You could tell when he was in that the entire offense was centered around him and that Doc Rivers did not really have a Plan B (the rest of the team had an off night, and even with all this the Clippers were right in it at the end). It seems as if the NBA does not like the Clippers. But we expect this game to be called more fairly, and LA might even get a couple makeup calls. But we fully expect this team to play better tonight and to win this one pretty comfortably as we feel they are the more superior team.

The Warriors had a lot of playoff magic last year, and bettors can’t help but remember that. But this is just not the same team this season. And this time they face a very tough task from a pretty complete Clippers team that can make a good argument for being the best in the NBA. And not only are they one of the best teams in the league, but they really hate this Warriors team. They will not hesitate to run up the score on this team late, and that should help protect us if this line is close at the end. But we do not think it will be. Even though these teams split their games this season, each winning both at home, one of those wins in the Bay Area was that real sketchy game where the Warriors were attacking Blake Griffin all game, and they ended up getting him ejected when the Clippers were ahead late (the league later rescinded that second technical foul and stated that he should have been allowed to finish the game). Golden State will probably try to rattle the Clippers again and get inside their heads. But we think this LA team has grown so much since then (not to mention they are prepared for any of these tactics) and we think they are very focused and determined right now. And we just think that they are way better than their opponent here. The Warriors have been very inconsistent all season and have not looked like the team that should have taken a big step forward this year. When Chris Paul went down for the Clippers for an extended period, Golden State had the perfect opportunity to take control of the division, but they started playing even worse while the Clips showed their depth and resiliency by not missing a step with Paul’s absence. That just showed a real lack of hear from this Warriors team, in our opinion. We think the Clippers are real anxious to get off to a fast start here and put last year’s first-round upset loss to Memphis out of their minds. They have had a couple days to get ready and prepare for this one and should have all the players on the team at their disposal for Game 1. Bogut being out for the Warriors really hurts this team. The Clippers should dominate down low with Griffin and Jordan and CP3 driving to the basket. And LA can match the Warriors on the perimeter with its own group of sharpshooters. LA won both games at home this season by double-digits, and we think this one has a good chance of being a bigger defecit than either of those two games.