It’s not often the Battle of LA gets overshadowed, but that’s exactly what’s happening tonight at the Chase Center when the Warriors and the Suns meet for the second time in four days.
Tuesday’s match-up was a classic, and the win for the Sun’s seen them extend their winning streak to 17 (since extended to 18), and also seen them join the Warriors at the top of the Western Conference.
The Suns’ winning streak hasn’t seen them replace the Warriors as the betting favorites to win the Western Conference though.
The best NBA Vegas Odds setters still have the Warriors in that position. Steve Kerr’s team is as short as +210 to top the table at the end of the regular season.
| Odds To Win Western Conference 2022 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Golden State Warriors | +255 | +210 |
| Phoenix Suns | +520 | +400 |
| Utah Jazz | +420 | +450 |
| LA Lakers | +330 | +525 |
| LA Clippers | +760 | +1200 |
We’re going to start tonight’s preview with a look at a match-up in the Eastern Conference though, and it’s the Wizards hosting the Cavaliers.
The Nets currently top the conference, but behind them, things are very tight.
The Wizards – who are major betting outsiders to win the conference – are doing well this season, but face an in-form side in the Cavaliers.
So far this season the Wizards are 14-8 and have a home record of 8-2.
The Wizards home record is the best in the conference, with only the Atlanta Hawks able to match it.
Tonight’s opponents, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 5-5 across the last 10 but are on a winning streak of three. Their winning run came on the back of five straight defeats though!
Away from home, the Cavaliers are stronger. They are 7-4 on the road, compared to 5-6 at the FieldHouse.
Even though the Wizards are outstanding at home, I’m a touch concerned by the Cavaliers away form. So I’m looking at the total points market instead.
The Wizards’ last three matches have all cleared 220, and they’re currently playing an open style of basketball, so for this match-up, I’m going for over 207.5 points on the Total Points spread.
Next up it’s the big one. Can the Warriors gain revenge for Tuesday’s defeat and show Monty Williams’ team who the real bosses are in the Western?
The Warriors haven’t had a match since Tuesday’s 104-96 defeat to the Suns, so should be the fresher of the two sides.
Prior to the defeat, the Warriors were on a run of seven straight wins, and across their last 10 matches, they are 8-2.
Golden State also is strong at home and boasts an 11-1 record at the Chase Center.
The Suns won their latest match-up and are now on a winning streak of 18. Last night they beat the Pistons 114-103, in what was eventually a comfortable win.
The victory also sees them take the outright lead at the top of the Western Conference.
How long will the lead last?
It’s not often a team gets the better of Steph Curry and co twice, never mind twice in four days.
The Warriors are -300 on the Moneyline, and I can’t be backing them at those short odds.
I do think Golden State will win though, so I’m going to have to reluctantly take them on the spread to win from -6.5 with Bovada.
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The final match-up I’m looking at tonight is the LA Derby between the Lakers and the Clippers.
The Lakers have managed back-to-back wins which is a good run of form for them this term.
An overall record of 12-11 for Frank Vogel’s team sums up their inconsistency though.
As for the Clippers they have an overall record this term of 11-11, but they are on a losing streak of three.
The stats across the last 10 matches is quite telling. The Lakers are 5-5, while the Clippers are 3-7. Put simply, the Clippers are in a bit of a rut!
The three defeats suffered by the Clippers on their losing streak were all at home and all large losses.
Most recently, they went down 124-115 to the Kings on Wednesday. Before that, they lost 123-104 to the Pelicans on Monday, and 105-90 to the Warriors last weekend.
There’s nothing like a derby match to give a team that much-needed kick up the butt though, and I expect the Clippers to be improved on their last three outings.
Whether they will be improved enough to beat the Lakers is another matter though!
There’s little between the two teams in the betting, and I’m prepared to take a chance on the Lakers winning this match on the Moneyline.
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