Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 25th, 2021 

Venue:  Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona

Where to Watch:  ABC

DraftKings:  Spread: Suns -6 ; O/U 217.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  Suns -5.5 ; O/U 217.5

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Suns -6 ; O/U 217.5

Warriors: 26-6, 2nd place Western Conference, and the League.

Suns: 26-5, 1st place Western Conference, and the League.

This is by far the NBA matchup that will make Christmas day great!  Christmas is usually great around my house with family, sugared up children, presents under the tree, and lots of great food!  This year we had a family member test positive for Covid… and as the others scrambled for rapid tests, more positive results came in.  Christmas has been canceled… or delayed… or skipped this year.  So, on Christmas Day I will sit alone with my wife… Exchanging a single present (she already knows what she is getting)... cooking a substandard Christmas meal of roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and corn… Then I will do what I do every year, I will watch an entire slate of NBA games!  Christmas will be saved by each tip-off and hopefully we get at least one buzzer beater and at least one big upset in the five-game slate.  Hopefully all the players are out of protocol and available to play… The game that will tie yuletide altogether is, of course Warriors vs Suns.  The league’s two best teams will make for the day’s best game.  The slate this year has some duds on it… The New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks.. In the offseason the league makes their best estimate to try and fill the Christmas Day slate with star power and probable playoff teams.  Every year the league makes a few mistakes.  It would be great if the Chicago Bulls or the Washington Wizards could show up Christmas Day, but no one had any idea they would be playing this well.  I mean who knew that all the Lakers castoffs from the Anthony Davis trade would be leading teams to higher heights… especially since LeBron (the Lakers GM, Coach and star player) didn’t know.

The Golden State Warriors are playing the way we all thought they would when Klay Thompson returned… Except Klay Thompson hasn’t returned yet.  During the two years that injury has deprived us all of the best backcourt in the NBA, the Warriors have traded well and drafted well.  The result is a killer winning team that is led by Stephen Curry, the NBA’s all-time 3-point maker, and Draymond Green, the best all-around defensively focused gamer ever.  Behind those guys is a surprising amount of depth and toughness… tough enough to be the NBA’s #1 defensive team while killing it on offense too.  Get to know the names Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga (and James Wiseman when he returns from injury) because they are either the makings of future NBA Championship Warriors teams… or they are mega trade bait that will bring back another star to become the makings of future NBA Championship Warriors teams.

All this love for the Warriors and you might think we had forgotten the Suns are right now the best team in basketball!  We should all have seen it coming.  Put Point God Chris Paul on a squad with shooting guard Devin Booker (90% Kobe, 10% needs more defense), athletic young dominant Center DeAndre Ayton, Swiss army knife SF Mikal Bridges (who was traded on draft day a few years back by the Philadelphia 76ers so you know he is great) and veteran hustle, muscle PF Jae Crowder… give them a quality bench full of shooters and guys trying to prove themselves in a welcoming atmosphere… and you get the best chance of Chris Paul ever getting a ring ever.  This is a great team whom you should not bet against for the rest of the regular season.

These opponents bring a cauldron full of intrigue.  The Suns were on a 16 game winning streak when they faced the Warriors for the first time this season.  The Suns won 104-96 to take first place from the Warriors and extend the streak to 17.  After a quick win against the Detroit Pistons made it 18 wins, the Schedule pitted the Suns against the Warriors again… that time the Warriors won 118-96 stopping the streak at a franchise record 18 wins… taking back first place to Golden State.  Ever since December 3rd the two monster teams have been jumping each other in the standings every couple of days.  How it works is usually whichever team played last won last… so they would wind up in first place.  The Standings would go Suns #1, Warriors #2… then Warriors #1, Suns #2, then back again and again.  This game puts a stop to that for awhile.  If the Suns win it will be a full 2 games of separation…. If the Warriors win they will be up a full game and own the tiebreaker going forward.

Al McMordie's a SCORCHING-HOT 9-1 his last 10, and 28-13 his last 41. And Big Al's firing on Christmas Day with his One and Only NBA Game of the Month for December. If you enjoyed Big Al's NBA Game of the Month Winner in November on Utah over New Orleans, then you KNOW what's in store here. Go get it! Get Big Al’s picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

The Warriors are 26-6 on the season, but 20-10-2 ATS.  They have logged 10 Overs, 21 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a fantastic 10-4 in road games.

The Warriors are 26-5, but 17-14 ATS.  They have notched 13 Overs, 17 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a remarkable 15-2 in home games.

The Warriors are 4th in points per game with 111.5, 5th in rebounds with 46.5, and 12th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  They are as usual shooting fantastically 3rd in FG%, 6th in 3PT%... the one detriment is 23rd in FT%.  As said earlier the Warriors are #1 in defense.  They only allow 101.1 ppg and they are defending FG% and 3pt% at 1st and 3rd respectively.

 

The Suns are 3rd in the NBA in ppg with 111.8, 7th in rebounds with 46.2 per , and 5th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9.  They are also shooting pretty great 2nd in FG%, 7th in 3PT%, 11th in FT%.  They are the 4th ranked defense in the NBA… holding teams to 104 ppg.

 

Our prediction for Saturday, December 25th is…. Suns 118 - Warriors 110

The Suns should take this game.  Not because it is their turn, but because they have really found a groove where teamwork and joy is spilling out of everybody.  The Warriors are great, but the Suns are a bit more cohesive right now.  Plus the Warriors will be missing key pieces of their team at tip-off.

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GS is 5-4 ATS versus the Suns over the last 3 seasons.

Suns are 3-2 ATS versus GS at Phoenix the last 3 seasons.

All 5 games in this series in Phoenix have gone Under.

Warriors: Sg Andre Iguodala (knee) Quest ** SG Davion Lee (covid) Out ** SF Andrew Wiggins (covid) Quest ** SG Jordan Poole (covid) Probable ** Klay Thompson and James Wiseman will make their returns in mid-January.

Suns: PF Frank Kaminsky (knee) has missed all season ** Dario Saric (knee) has missed all season.

Warriors:  PF Draymond Green, SF Otto Porter Jr, C Kevon Looney, SG Gary Payton II, PG Stephen Curry

Suns: SF Mikal Bridges, PF Jae Crowder, C DeAndre Ayton, SG Devin Booker, PG Chris Paul

Warriors

Points: Stephen Curry 27.7

Assists: Draymond Green 7.4

Rebounds: Draymond Green 7.9

Steals: Stephen Curry 1.6

Blocks: Draymond Green 1.1

Suns

Points: Devin Booker 23.3

Assists: Chris Paul 9.9

Rebounds: Deandre Ayton 11.3

Steals: Chris Paul 2.0

Blocks: JaVale McGee 0.8

Warriors:  Steve Kerr

Suns: Monty Williams