It’s all about free-throws. Had the Golden State Warriors converted on a couple of free-throws in the final seconds of regulation time Wednesday night, the NBA Western Conference semifinals would be knotted at 1-1 going into game three tonight at Oracle Arena in Oakland. Instead, the Warriors face a must-win situation while down 2-games to none in this best of seven series with the Utah Jazz. No team has ever come back to win an NBA Playoffs series down 3-0.
"I thought the game was ours. The free throw betrayed us,” said Golden State coach Don Nelson. “It was right there. All we had to do was make free throws, but we didn't do it. It's tough to take a loss like that. We're not a great free throw shooting team and we haven't lost many games because of it. We did a lot of the things that we wanted to do and did them well enough to win the game, but unfortunately the free throw, the lack of the free throw shooting, beat us."
Fortunately for Warriors , they are undefeated in three games this playoffs season at Oracle Arena, one of the most raucous venue in the league. The chances of the Warriors going 2-0 to tie up the series at 2-2 are very good.
BookMaker.com is currently showing Golden State as a -6 ½ point favorite on the side bet and has them at -300 on the money line. Utah is getting +250 juice on the money line. The total is currently holding at 216 ½.
In betting trends , Golden State is 13-5 straight up (SU) in its last 18 games and is 10-2-1 against the spread (ATS) in its last 13 games. Golden State has won five in a row SU at Oracle Arena. In totals betting, the OVER has cashed in 16 of Golden State’s last 21 games.
Utah is 6-1 SU in its last seven games while going 6-0-1 ATS in the same seven game stretch. The Jazz have not been as solid on the road going a paltry 3-12 SU in its last 15 games. The total has gone OVER in four of Utah’s last five games.
I think the chances of Golden State cashing on the ml (-300) is almost a sure thing while the – 6 ½-point side bet has good value. The OVER has dominated in totals betting in this series and I don’t see a low total tonight.
