The Golden State Warriors head to the Valley of the Sun to take on the Phoenix Suns in their final assignment of 2018.
The Warriors are coming off a split of back to back games against the Portland Trail Blazers while the Suns are fresh from a close defeat to the Denver Nuggets.
After going 21-68 from the field in his last five games, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson finally broke out of his shooting slump to score 32 points against the Blazers on Saturday night, going 12-21 from the floor and 4-5 from behind the three point line. Thompson’s struggles has been well-documented this season and aside from his 52-point performance against the Bulls earlier this season where he broke the NBA record with 14 three pointers in one game, Thompson is having an inconsistent season.
Despite his struggles, Thompson has managed to average 21.2 points per game this season, behind Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry who lead the Dubs with 28.6 and 28.5 points per game, respectively. As always, Draymond Green is the swiss army knife, doing it all with 7.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game for the defending NBA champions.
The Warriors rank 4th in team scoring at 115.4 points per game and they are also the top passing team in the league at 27.8 assists per game this season The Dubs are 10th in rebounding at 46.0 boards per contest while they have the 18th best scoring defense in the NBA at 111.3 points per game allowed.
After a season best four-game winning streak, the Phoenix Suns are back to their losing ways. The Suns enter this game on a two-game losing streak and losers of four out of their last five games. In their last game played, the Suns nearly overcame a 22 point deficit against the Denver Nuggets but fell short after Jamal Murray unloaded 46 points on them. The Suns are now 9-28 SU this season with a 5-13 SU record at home.
Devin Booker leads the way for Phoenix with 25.3 points and 7.2 assists per game this season. T.J. Warren is helping with the scoring load by scoring 18.6 points per game. Top rookie pick DeAndre Ayton is averaging 16.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Ayton is coming off a career-high 33 points against the Nuggets, including 24 in the second quarter which is by far the highest scoring quarter by any Phoenix Suns rookie in history.
The Suns have the fifth lowest scoring average in the league at 105.4 points per game. Phoenix is tied for 17th with 24.0 assists per game this season. The Suns are averaging 41.1 rebounds per game which is 28th among 30 NBA teams while they are 24th in scoring defense at 113.9 points per game allowed.
Golden State is 6-4 SU in their last 10 games and the Warriors are 9-8 SU on the road this season. Phoenix is 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played. The Suns are 5-13 SU playing at home this season. Head to head, the Warriors are 10-0 SU in their last 10 meetings.
The Warriors haven’t been themselves the last 10 games but this has not been the usual dominating season for them. The Dubs were 2-3 SU in the five games where Thompson struggled badly and with Klay breaking out of it last Saturday, the Warriors have a reason to be optimistic heading to this match-up.
The Dubs have only been mediocre on the road this season but Phoenix has been below average at home too. The Suns won four games in a row earlier this month but it seems they are back to their losing ways again. Booker, Warren and Ayton continue to carry the fight but their lack of depth and experience will be a disadvantage against the two-time defending champs.
Both teams would really want to close their 2018 campaign with a bang but if there’s a team that can produce a big bang on Monday, it’s the Warriors. We’re picking the Golden State Warriors to beat the Phoenix Suns on 12/31/18.
The Warriors are 15-22 ATS in 37 games played this season. Golden State is 7-10 ATS in 17 road games played this season. The Suns are 17-20 ATS in 37 games played this season. Phoenix is 9-9 ATS in 18 home games played so far. Head to head, the Warriors are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games played.
The Warriors are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 road games against a team with a home winning percentage of less than .400. The Dubs are also 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games against teams with a losing home record and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games against teams with a winning percentage of less than .400. The Suns are 7-20 ATS in their last 27 games against the Pacific division. The Suns have also struggled against the top teams, going 0-4 ATS in their last four home games against teams with a winning record. Prediction: Warriors -10
The under is 19-18 in Golden State’s games this season. The total has gone over in 10 out of 17 road games played by the Warriors. The total has gone under in 21 out of the 37 games played by the Suns this season. The under has hit in 11 out of 18 home games for Phoenix this season.
Both teams play this game after a one-day rest and their records point to the under. The Dubs have seen the under hit in their last four games on one-day rest while the total has gone under in five out of the last six games Phoenix has played with one-day rest. The under is also 6-1 after an SU win by the Warriors and the under is also 4-1 in the Suns’ last five games versus western conference teams. Prediction: Under 227
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