NBA Knowledge
Saturday's hot teams
-- Washington won three of last four games (7-3 last 10AU).
-- Miami won seven of its last ten games (4-7 last 11HF). .
-- Minnesota won three of its last five games (3-8HF).
-- Warriors won 11 of their last 12 games (3-5 last 8AF).
-- Clippers won four of their last five games (1-2HU).
Cold teams
-- Milwaukee lost eight of last 11 games (1-5 last 6AU).
-- Atlanta lost three of its last four games (5-3 last 8HF).
-- Knicks lost their last seven games (7-5 last 12AU).
Series records
-- Wizards won five of last six games with Miami.
-- Hawks won eight of last ten games with Milwaukee.
-- Knicks won six of last nine games with Minnesota.
-- Clippers lost their last four games with Golden State.
Totals
-- Three of last four Miami games stayed under total.
-- Four of last five Atlanta-Milwaukee games stayed under.
-- Over is 7-0-1 in Minnesota games if it played night before.
-- Four of last five Clipper games satyed under the total.
Back/backs
-- Washington is playing third night in row because of a makeup game Thursday; they're 5-3 vs spread last eight times they played nite before.
-- Miami is 5-4 vs spread if it played night before.
-- Bucks are 9-5 vs spread if they played nite before, 0-3 in last three.
-- Atlanta is 3-7 vs spread last ten times they played night before.
-- Knicks lost three of last four if they played night before.
-- Minnesota is 4-4 vs spread if it played night before (1-7SU).
-- Golden State is 9-3 vs spread if it played the night before.
Armadillosports.com
Warriors at Clippers
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
The Warriors remain atop the Western Conference after 53 games, as Golden State tries to maintain its three-game lead over San Antonio for the top spot. Golden State continues its six-game road trip at Staples Center on Saturday night to face the Clippers for the third time this season, looking for a perfect 3-0 mark against their division rivals.
The Clippers began the second half with a bang by knocking off the Spurs in a playoff rematch, 105-86 as two-point home underdogs on Thursday. Los Angeles limited San Antonio to 34 first half points, while shooting 50% from the floor to pick up its eighth victory in its last 10 games. Chris Paul eliminated the Spurs in Game 7 of last season’s epic first round playoff series, as the Clippers’ All-Star guard burned San Antonio for 28 points and 12 assists on Thursday.
Golden State closed the first half with 11 consecutive victories, the third winning streak of at least seven games this season. The Warriors play with no rest following Friday’s 137-105 loss at Portland, as the Blazers shot 54% from the floor and allowed Damian Lillard to drop 51 points on Golden State. The defending champions look to rebound tonight as Steve Kerr’s squad owns a remarkable 12-1 SU and 10-3 ATS record on the second of a back-to-back.
In each of the first two matchups, the Warriors took care of business against the Clippers, although they haven’t met since mid-November. Golden State held off Los Angeles at Oracle Arena on November 4 as 7½-point favorites, 112-108, led by Stephen Curry’s 31 points, including 7-of-11 shooting from three-point range. The Clippers jumped out to a 23-point lead on the Warriors in their next meeting at Staples Center two weeks later, but Golden State rallied for a 124-117 victory to cash as 5½-point favorites. Curry outdid himself in this matchup by putting up 40 points, while backcourt mate Klay Thompson scored 25 points in the win.
Since losing in the final seconds to Oklahoma City on December 21, the Clippers have won eight of their last 10 home contests, while covering six times in this span. The Warriors won 28 regular season road games last season, but have already reached 24 away victories this season in 28 tries. However, Golden State has lost seven of its last 10 visits to Los Angeles, as the Clippers are a home underdog against the Warriors for just the second time in this span.
Wizards at Heat
All of the sudden, Washington (25-28 SU, 28-25 ATS) is coming back to life after a slow start by winning back-to-back home games against Utah and Detroit. The Wizards are in the unenviable position of playing three games in three days thanks to the make-up game against the Jazz on Thursday, as Washington improved to 4-8 with no rest after Friday’s victory over the Pistons. Randy Wittman’s squad allowed less than 89 points in each win the last two nights, while cashing the ‘under’ in three straight games.
Miami (30-24 SU, 27-26-1 ATS) pulled into a first place tie with Atlanta atop the Southeast division after beating the Hawks for the third time this season on Friday, 115-111. The Heat managed to pick up the road victory in spite of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh sitting out due to injury, as Luol Deng led Miami with 30 points and 11 rebounds to give the Heat their sixth road win in seven tries. Erik Spoelstra’s team has lost two of three meetings with the Wizards this season, including a 114-103 home loss as eight-point favorites in December.
Bucks at Hawks
Both these teams are coming off home losses last night, as Atlanta (31-25 SU, 27-28-1 ATS) dropped its fourth straight divisional game in Friday’s four-point setback to Miami. The Hawks have scored at least 100 points in six of the past seven contests, although the ‘over’ has cashed just four times in this span. Atlanta is playing with revenge after losing in overtime at Milwaukee, 108-101 last month, just the second loss to the Bucks in the past 10 meetings.
There hasn’t been much success on the highway for Milwaukee (22-33 SU, 27-27-1 ATS), who has won just seven times in 31 tries away from the BMO Harris Center. The Bucks fell to the Hornets at home last night, 98-95 to snap a modest two-game winning streak, as Milwaukee tries to end a six-game skid on the road. In five of those defeats, Jason Kidd’s team has failed to bust the 100-point mark, while the Bucks are 8-2 to the ‘under’ in their past 10 road contests.
Knicks at Wolves
Things have turned rotten in the Big Apple for the Knicks (23-33 SU, 29-27 ATS), who have lost seven straight games and allowed an average of 110 points per game since Derek Fisher was fired as head coach. New York fell to rival Brooklyn last night, 109-98 as five-point road favorites, the seventh consecutive contest the Knicks have failed to cover. Seven remains the theme for New York, who has dropped seven straight away from Madison Square Garden since winning at Miami on January 6, as the Knicks have yielded at least 100 points six times in the past seven road contests.
The Wolves (17-38 SU, 24-30-1 ATS) return home after blowing a double-digit lead in Friday’s 109-104 loss at Memphis as 4½-point underdogs. Minnesota has played better of late by covering six of its past 10 games, including outright ‘dog wins over the Clippers and Raptors. However, Minnesota is playing with revenge after losing at New York in December, 107-102, as the Knicks built a 20-point halftime lead before the Wolves rallied late to make it close.