The Golden State Warriors appear to be a team in crisis.
Following the trade deadline in which they sold low on former number two overall pick James Wiseman, in a deal that also saw them shell out five conditional second-round picks, just to land back Gary Payton II and two second-rounders, the Dubs also learned that they’ll have to navigate the majority of the remaining regular season, if not all of it, without their superstar and best player Stephen Curry, who’s expected to miss "several weeks" with a leg injury.
Click the image for live odds
The Warriors currently sit in the seventh seed in the Western Conference with a perfectly even record of 30-30 at the time of writing.
Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and the rest of the Dubs will have to do their best to tread water while Curry remains out to avoid missing the playoffs, as they hold just a game-and-a-half lead over the 11th-seed Oklahoma City Thunder and the 12th-seed Portland Trail Blazers.
 |
 |
That lead is in danger of evaporating quickly on Tuesday, February 28th, as the Warriors will go head-to-head against the new-look Blazers.
Since their last matchup, Portland has revamped their supporting cast, bringing in two young, two-way wings in Cam Reddish and Matisse Thybulle to replace Josh Hart and Gary Payton II.
While the moves they made initially gave impressions that they might be considering a tank for the rest of the season, both youngsters have impressed in their short Portland careers thus far, and the Blazers shouldn’t be considered any further away from contention than they were before the deadline.
If anything, the youth and ceiling of the players they brought in might actually mean that they could have a better team than they did with GPII and Hart.
At the least, their length and activity on defense should give them a better chance at holding teams under 120 points, even if the veterans they casted out had a better defensive reputation overall.
Most importantly, Damian Lillard has been on an absolute heater since we last saw him play and should have no problem picking things up where he left off after winning the NBA’s 3-point contest and hitting the game-winner in the main event during All-Star Weekend.
So long as Dame is playing at an All-NBA level, the Blazers have the chance to beat any team on any given night and should certainly be able to compete with a Curry-less Warriors squad.
Got 71 reasons to tune in tonight.
🏀 #RipCity vs. @warriors
🏟️ @ChaseCenter
⌚️ 7:00PM PT
📺 @ROOTSPORTS_NW
📻 @RipCityRadio620 pic.twitter.com/sx31OXqVDC— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 28, 2023
The Handicapper911 simulation model, which simulates every NBA game thousands’ of times, is up +31.45 units over the last three years. We have released 249 total games with 136 WINS and 113 losses for a win % of 54.62%. A $100 bettor of our NBA would have netted a profit of $3,145 and, a $1,000 bettor would have won $31,400. We have released only a handful of NBA games so far this season. Now is the time to sign-up and start winning.
| Title: Portland Trail Blazers vs Golden State Warriors betting preview
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: Feb 28, 2023
