Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Sunday, March 20th, 2022 

Venue:  Chase Center, San Francisco California.

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Warriors -5.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  NL

BetMGM:  Spread: NL

Spurs: 27-44 Western Conference

Warriors: 47-23 Western Conference

A Western Conference matchup between a terrible visiting team and a great home team.  There is definitely a disparity in roster quality in this matchup… but it should be a fun display of disparate approaches.  Plus the point spread has been kicking the Warriors ass as of late.  The game is being played in the Chase Center in San Francisco.  This is a very new stadium that is exquisitely state of the art.  It is appointed with precision lighting, cell-phone charging stations, the flow of the concourse has been designed specifically to avoid bottle necks and allow people to get to their seat or the restrooms or the concessions with little hassle of a staggering crowd.  By Comparison the Spurs play in the AT&T Center in San Antonio Texas…  not an old stadium by any means, it opened in 2002… is a monument to function.  It was built purely to serve a single function… house games and hold concerts.  That is it.  There is no interactive game on an app that will reveal hidden gems and make suggestions about the stadium… there is no concierge service at the tap of a button.  The difference in experience is very much the difference of these two teams.  The Spurs were built for function.  They don’t go in for frills and big chances.  The roster is meant to sit at the feet of Coach Gregg Popovich and learn pass, pass, pass, shoot basketball.  Coach Pop is one of the best if not the best to ever do it… so for now it’s his way or the highway.  Golden State’s roster is an interactive experience… Your favorite future Hall of Famer is likely to play for them… Maybe you like a game changing point guard that single-handedly opened up the floor and improved every team’s offensive mindset forever…. They have one of those… Maybe you like a smooth shooting two-way guard from an NBA lineage who is comfortable when his buddy gets all the glory but can step up and land 40 points at almost anytime… Maybe you like an underrated PF who does just enough of everything on the floor to actually be the lynchpin for winning basketball while only scoring 10 points a game.  The Warriors have all that… and they’ll recharge your phone.

The San Antonio Spurs have won only 4 of their last ten games.  They only went 2-8 ATS.  This team would win zero games if they did not have point guard Dejounte Murray.  Dejounte leads the team in scoring 20.9, assists 9.3, and steals, 2.1.  His play is all-star worthy and he was recognized as such this season.  The Spurs have a desperate lack of quality big men… so much so that they have a SF starting at PF, and a SG starting at SF… sure, there are lots of guys on the injured list… but no quality big men are stashed over there.   C Jakob Poeltl puts up 13.6 ppg and 9.1 rpg… which is OK… but after him they have PF/C Zach Collins, PF Devontae Cacock, C Jock Landale… and all those guys should be or would be cut by a contending team to make room for someone who might actually play.  The Spurs are the home of Robinson and Duncan… for Pop’s coaching to work… there needs to be a quality big man somewhere.  SG Devin Vassell was a 2020 1st round pick and he looks like a keeper.  His play was so reliable that the team felt comfortable trading SG Derrick White to the Celtics… of course now Devin is playing out of position… but the Spurs know this season is about the draft and building for the seasons down the road.

The Golden State Warriors have won just 4 of their last ten games.  They are in 3rd place in the West and for a brief time had possession of first place earlier in the year.  The recent funk is the result of PF Draymond Green not playing because of an injury.  He is back now and they have started winning again.  Though they did drop the last game to the Boston Celtics (where Brown and Tatum had 26 points EACH) 110-88.  That loss snapped a 4 game winning streak which itself snapped a 5 game losing streak.  Everything has gone wrong for the Warriors this season.  They built a beautiful team while waiting for the return of SG Klay Thompson… when Klay returned from 2 and a half years out with knee injuries… Draymond went down… Then as Draymond was returning Steph Curry went down with a torn ligament in his foot.  This is one of the best teams ever assembled and they can not get on the floor together for any extended length of time.  To further illustrate the problems C James Wiseman was the #2 pick overall in the 2020 draft.  He is an athletic 7-footer who is billed as a shot-blocker and a potential scorer at the NBA level… but in his first season (last season) he only played 39 games before going down with a knee injury.  He missed all of this season until last week when he attempted a return by playing some G-league games and rejoining the active roster… but then his surgically repaired knee began swelling.  He is back on the injured list… again with no time table for a return. It may occur to Golden State to shut down everybody from the glory days to ensure health for next season.  The remaining roster of SG Jordan Poole, PF Otto Porter Jr, SF Jonathan Kuminga, C Kevon Looney, PG Moses Moody is pretty good… plus they have SF Andrew Wiggins who made the all-star team rejoining them after he gets over a non-Covid illness that has kept him out a few games.   The Warriors have a great and deep team but are on thin ice with the health of their stars.

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San Antonio are 27-44 on the season, but 34-36-1 ATS.  They have logged 35 Overs, 34 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 13-21 in road games.

The Warriors are 47-23 on the season, but 35-31-4 ATS.  They have notched 30 Overs, 38 Unders, and 1 Push.   They are 29-8 in home games.

The Spurs are 8th in scoring with 112.7 ppg, 10th in rebounds with 45.3 per game, and 1st in AST/TO ratio with 2.2.  Those are all really good numbers… except on defense they rank 25th while allowing 113.7 ppg.

The Warriors are 12th in scoring with 111.2 ppg, 9th in rebounds with 45.3 per game, and 11th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 5th while holding opponents to 105.1 ppg

Our prediction for Sunday, March 20th is…. Warriors 118 - Spurs 112

The Warriors to win and cover.

Be Careful with this game.  The Spurs have 3 moderately important guys listed as questionable for the game while the Warriors have 3 moderately important guys listed as Questionable with another listed as Probable.  The line-ups could change and some Quests could become DNP’s. The prediction is based on if every guy returns OR if every guy sits the game out.  If the spurs get 3 guys back while none of the Warriors return it will be wildly inaccurate.

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San Antonio is 1-5 ATS off an upset home loss.
Golden State is 12-3 ATS after covering 5 or 6 of their last 7 games.
San Antonio is 57-48 ATS versus Golden State since 1996.

Warriors: C James Wiseman and Steph Curry are Out ** PG Gary Payton II (knee) Probable ** SG Moses Moody (shoulder) Quest ** SF Andrew Wiggins (ill) Quest ** PF N. Bjelica (ill) Out

Spurs: SG Romeo Langford (hamstring) Out ** PF Devontae Cacock (heel) Out ** SG Lonniw Walker IV (back) Quest ** SF Kenneth Bates-Diop (back) Quest ** SG Josh Richardson (calf) Quest

Spurs: PF Keldon Johnson, SF Devin Vassell, C Jakob Poeltl, PG Dejounte Murray, SG Joshua Primo

Warriors: SF Jordan Poole, PF Otto Porter Jr, C Kevon Looney, SG Klay Thompson, PG Stephen Curry

Spurs: Gregg Popovich

Warriors: Steve Kerr