There’s no rest down the stretch for two postseason bound teams in the April 9th Warriors at Spurs betting matchup. Golden State is trying to lock down the #3 seed with just a 1/2 game lead over the Mavericks in the West. San Antonio meanwhile is trying to claw their way into the #9 spot so they would host this week’s play-in game against the Pelicans.
Both teams are on the front leg of a back-to-back, but you would think that Sunday would be the potential rest day depending on how things shake out across the NBA on Saturday. The Warriors will have home court against either the Jazz or the Nuggets, although either are a tough 1st round matchup.
No Thompson for Golden State
Steve Kerr has already said his main goal down the stretch is to ‘build momentum’ which would point to Golden State attacking the April 9th Warriors at Spurs matchup in standard operating procedure. The Warriors are 1-3 this year vs. Denver and 3-1 vs. the Jazz therefore dropping down into the #4 seed and playing Utah in the first round wouldn’t be the worst thing. Could that be why Klay Thompson (rest) is sitting on Saturday night?
Thompson being out definitely puts a dent in the Warriors chances on Saturday night, as he went for 33 points in Thursday’s 128-112 win over the Lakers. Thompson missing the game against San Antonio is kind of a wash though, considering the Spurs will be without their best player yet again as Dejounte Murray continues to sit with a respiratory illness. GSW also has momentum with three wins in a row.
Spurs Gearing for a Home Game
Golden State is on a nice little run to close out the season with three straight wins, but the Spurs have also captured victories in 7 of their last 9 contests. San Antonio needs a win on Saturday and then over the Mavs on Sunday, and also need the Pelicans to lose to the Grizzlies and these Warriors this weekend to get home court in their play-in match.
Murray has been out since March 30th and that’s a lot of production out of the lineup (21.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 9.3 apg) but the Spurs are still 3-1 in his absence. San Antonio is also going to be without 7-footer Jakob Poeltl vs. the Warriors as he rests a bad back. Poeltl just had 15 points an 17 rebounds in Thursday’s 6-point loss to the Timberwolves so that’s a big piece out in the middle.
April 9th Warriors at Spurs Betting Info
Golden State is a -6.5 favorite on Saturday night, a somewhat high number considering it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the Warriors slipped down into the #4 seed and faced the struggling Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. Kerr has said he wants to build momentum into the postseason though, and that’s apparently what Golden State is doing on a three game win streak.
April 9th Warriors at Spurs Betting Pick
Murray as well as Poeltl being out definitely hurts the Spurs chances here, but Keldon Johnson is playing well and San Antonio had 8 players score in double figures against Minnesota. 6.5 seems like too many points.
Free Pick: Spurs +6.5
