Golden State Warriors Hope To Bounce Back In Houston

If there is a silver lining for the Golden State Warriors to their 126-121 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night it is this: Steph Curry played his worst game of the season and they still took the game to OT. The flip side of that for Houston–they absolutely shut down the two time NBA MVP and they still needed overtime to win. Curry finished with 17 points on 7 for 23 shooting and 2 for 9 from 3 point range. Golden State got a huge boost from Kevin Durant who put up 46 points but were unable to salvage the win.

That makes this a big game for both teams. If Golden State wins they head back to California with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to close out their opponent on their home floor. If Houston wins, they head West tied 2-2 and it’s a new series. The Rockets also no doubt understand that going down 3-1 in a NBA playoff series isn’t much better than being down 3-0. In 244 all time NBA playoff series where one team has gone up 3-1 the trailing team has come back to win on just 11 occasions. Given Houston’s generally mediocre play on the road this season (23-22 SU/19-25-1 ATS) it would be an uphill struggle for them to be team #12.

In the other corner, the Warriors are very confident that Curry will bounce back strong after a downright dismal performance. Head coach Steve Kerr noted that he often follows up a bad game with a good game and the same can likely be said for the entire team. Teams with the level of championship pedigree that Golden State has seldom go off on long stretches of futility–and particularly in the playoffs. Houston didn’t play particularly well on defense in Game 3 and they’re likely aware that if Curry had played anywhere near his expected level they would have likely lost. They are 8-16 ATS this year after allowing 115+ points and 15-22 after scoring 115+ points. That means they’re likely to regress on both ends of the court which could be an edge for Golden State.

It’s difficult to find a good pointspread stituation for Golden State. They’re just too big of a ‘public’ team which is why they’ve lost -17.1 units this season despite winning 63 games. Only the pitiful New York Knicks have lost more money for their ‘financial backers’. There are a couple of straight up situations worth noting–the Warriors are 19-5 SU this season in revenge spots and have gone 52-16 in revenge spots over the past three seasons. Despite their struggles this year they’re still the better team and should get the win in Game 4. At the current NBA pointspread that’s all we need them to do.

BET GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS +1.5 OVER HOUSTON ROCKETS

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