Game Time: 10:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 24th, 2022 

Venue: Moda Center, Portland Oregon

Where to Watch:  TNT

DraftKings:  Spread:  Warriors -9

BetMGM:  Spread:  Warriors -8.5

VegasInsider:  Spread: Warriors -9

WynnBet: Spread:  NL

Warriors: 42-17, 2nd place Western Conference

Trail Blazers: 25-34, 10th place Western Conference

An NBAWestern Conference matchup that is so uneven as to enter a world of silly.  The Golden State Warriors are a real team, a well rounded team.  The Warriors have 3 players on the roster that will be in the basketball Hall of Fame.  They have another that made the recent all-star team… and yet another (Kuminga) who is showing he may be a future all-star.  So much talent, so much depth, so many layers of being great now and great in the future.  The brain trust at the Warriors like to pat themselves on the back and call themselves the “smartest team” in the league.  It turns out those jerks may be right.  When crybaby Kevin Durant left them after winning back to back Finals and Finals MVPs… and the team had key injuries to starting players.. They just trudged on. They gathered young players, they made a few trades… and BOOM!... When the injured SG Klay Thompson came back after injured PG Steph Curry came back… th team was fully loaded after just 2 season in the rut.  Right now they are loaded in the starting five, and the bench, and they have C James Wiseman missing an entire season with injury. If the Warriors do not win this NBA Finals they will at least be in contention for the next 5 seasons straight.  Plus they have the pieces to make a big trade at any time they want one. The Trail Blazers are not the Warriors.  The Blazers spent the last 5-6 seasons with Damian Lilliard and CJ McCollum as their only healthy stars.  The two small guards can shoot the lights out… but struggle on the defensive end.  So this year with the team imploding for the 4th time in the past dozen years… they finally broke up the duo by trading CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans.  Damian Lilliard is out with an abdominal injury… but really doesn’t want to play for Portland.  More trades are coming.  The team has very little after dropping SG Norman Powell who they were playing at SF and PF Robert Covington on the Los Angeles Clippers for seemingly nothing.  The Blazers are bad.  The Blazers’ future is unclear.  If you ask a Blazers fan what is good?.. They will tell you rookie guard Anfernee Simons… and you can tell them: “yeah, it’ll be great now that we have an undersized starting guard to build around”.  Then the sigh… followed by no high fives.

The Warriors have won 6 of their last ten games.  The losses in that streak have given the Phoenix Suns a giant lead in the Western Conference.  During that ten game stretch the Warriors are 2-7-1 ATS.  They are not safe or reliable to bet on.  They have the All-Star game MVP Stephen Curry leading them in scoring with 25.8 ppg.  They have former all-star (5x) Klay Thompson hitting shots and playing up to the level he left the game at 2 ½ seasons ago. They also have 1st time all-star and former #1 overall pick SF Andrew Wiggins.  They are loaded, but the lack of a big man causes them to suffer when they play against a team with a dominant big man… That is why they lost to Denver, the Clippers, Utah, and the Knicks.  Futura Hall of Famer Draymond Green is not only out but the team is holding his rehab to a slow level so he will be ready and rested for the playoffs.

The Trail Blazers have won their last 4 games in a row.  A four game winning streak exactly when they were supposed to stink?!! However they are only 4 wins over their last ten games… so going into a four-game winning streak they were on a 6 game losing streak.  Suddenly the team’s leading scorer is journeyman SG Josh Hart who came over from the New Orleans Pelicans in the CJ McCollum trade.  That alone may reveal how terribly stupid the team’s front office has been.  They had a constantly losing team with two all-stars and held on to those all-stars for several seasons.  Then they trade 1 of the all-stars and a small piece of that trade comes back and drops the same stats.  Uh-Oh… They don’t know what is going on at all.  They are 4-6 ATS during the ten games.  They covered when they won the game, but not at all when they lost the game.

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The Warriors are 42-17 on the season, but 29-26-4 ATS.  They have logged 25 Overs, 33 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 16-11 in road games.

The Trail Blazers are 25-34 on the season, but 25-33-1 ATS.  They have notched 28 Overs, 30 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 16-16 in home games.

The Warriors are 12th in scoring with 110.6 ppg, 8th in rebounds with 45.8 per game, and 12th in AST/TO with 1.8. They are shooting great at 8th in FG%, 5th in 3PT%, and 18th in FT%.  On defense they are no slouches either with a ranking of 4th while allowing 103.7 ppg.

The Trail Blazers are 20th in scoring with 108.2 ppg, 20th in rebounds with 44.1 per game, and 22nd in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  They are dreadful on defense with a 25th ranking while allowing 112 ppg from opponents.  The big problem at the moment is that few players on the roster are used to playing with each other.

Our prediction for Thursday, February 24th is….  Warriors 124 - Blazers 101

Yes, a 20+ point blow out.  The numbers show that one team is capable regardless of who they put on the floor and the other team is incapable because they have no idea who to put on the floor.  A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if anyone on the Warriors would instantly become the starter at their position on the Blazers… That is most likely true for 8 different Warriors.

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Portland is 63 Over and 42 Under when playing against a winning team over the last 3 seasons.

Golden State is 58 Under and 40 Over when playing against a losing team over the last 3 seasons.

Golden State is 22-8 ATS off 2 or more consecutive uset losses since 1996.

Golden State is 62-44 ATS versus Portland since 1996.

Portland is missing 4 players that would be in the starting lineup… if they weren’t on the injury list.

Warriors: PF Danny Green (calf) Out ** C James Wiseman (knee) Out ** SG Andre Iguodala (back) is being saved for playoff depth; they have no use for him now.

Blazers:  PG Damian Lilliard (abs) Out ** C Jusuf Nurkic (foot) Out ** PG Eric Bledsoe (achilles) done for career ** SF Joe Ingles ( knee) Out for season ** SF Nassir Little (shoulder) Out for season ** PG Didi Louzada (knee) Out for season.

Warriors: PG Stephen Curry, SG Klay Thompson, C Kevon Looney, PF Andrew Wiggins, PG Andrew Wiggins

Blazers: PF CJ Ellerby, SF Justise Winslow, C Trendon Watford, PG Anfernee Simons, SG Josh Hart

Warriors

Points: Stephen Curry 25.8

Assists: Draymond Green 7.4

Rebounds: Kevon Looney 7.6

Steals: Gary Payton II 1.4

Blocks: Draymond Green 1.2

Blazers

Points: Josh Hart 24

Assists: Damian Lilliard 7.3

Rebounds: Jusuf Nurkic 11.1

Steals: Justise Winslow 1.7

Blocks: Robert Convington

Warriors: Steve Kerr

Blazers: Chauncey Billups