Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA Playoffs game on TNT. Pressure is on the defending champions to respond after losing the first 2 games of this series as they host the Kings in Game 3 tonight at Chase Center. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Golden State Warriors
Not a lot has gone the Warriors way in the opening 2 games of this series and now they find themselves in a situation they’ve never been in since the Stephen Curry era began. This is the first time Curry ant co. are down 2-0 in a series, and to make matters worse they’ll be without their 3rd best player Draymond Green as he has been suspended for stomping on Domantas Sabonis in Game 2.
That’s a big blow for the Warriors as they don’t have an adequate replacement, Jordan Poole is the name being thrown around that could start in place of Green. It’s not all that bad for Golden State though, they are still 33-8 SU in home games this season and have a healthy Curry and Thompson duo. They also won both meetings with the Kings at home during the regular season.
Sacramento Kings
Sacramento is on cloud nine heading into Game 3 after those 2 wins at home. This team is proving every game that they’re not the 3rd seed by accident this season, their optimism will be on a high heading into Chase Center tonight. Having the best road record in the Western Conference is no small feat, the Kings finished the regular season 25-16 SU and I think they would happily sign a split over the next 2 games.
That sounds way easier than done though, Golden State has beaten them 6 games in a row at home, plus the head-to-head record still reads 3-8 SU for Sacramento in the last 11 meetings. Domantas Sabonis has been labelled as questionable here with a chest injury following the incident with Draymond, however I do believe he will be able to play.
Golden State just has to win here, no team ever has come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series in the NBA playoffs. They’ve won 12 of 13 home games to close out the season, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and back them to cover.
Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings Predictions & Odds
The oddsmakers have continued with setting the projected total at a high number once again, they’re expecting a high scoring game here and I’m just not sure that will happen. Sacramento is a much better road defensive team than when they play at home, and the same applies to the Warriors when comparing their home efforts on that end to those on the road. At Chase Center the Warriors have a defensive rating of 108.4 which is 3rd best in the league.
Sacramento has the 8th best road defensive rating at 113.8 and they’re just 10th in pace. There’s also the fact that the last 5 of 6 Sacramento games have gone under the total and for the season they are 15-26 on the O/U in road games. Despite having the 2nd best offensive numbers this season, Golden State finished the year at just 17-23-1 on the O/U at Chase Center. I’ll take the under here.
