Usually Eastern road trips are a breeze for teams from the West but Golden State has already dropped 2 of 4 games and with Indiana up next their chances of having a winning trip are slim. [ad-4468020]
Golden State Warriors (36-24) vs Indiana Pacers (46-13)
Tuesday March 4
Bankers Life Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN
7:00PM
Moneyline: No moneyline currently listed
Spread: Indiana -5.5
O/U: 196.5
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Golden State
The last time out they lost to a highly motivated Toronto Raptors team but winning on the road at Indiana has been next to impossible this season. Golden State it only 18-14 outside of the Bay Area this season.
When SG Klay Thompson plays well the Warriors seem unstoppable. The problem is he is still trying to build consistency in his game. Against Toronto he struggled with his shooting and his fouls so even though PG Steph Curry dropped 34 points it just wasn’t enough. Indiana is the top defensive team in the league so it is not going to be easy getting out of his slump, especially with Lance Stephenson or Paul George in his face.
This one is all about motivation. If all the Warriors want is a .500 trip they can look ahead to the next night at Boston. If they want to make a statement then we might see a max effort and a pretty good game. Indiana is too good defensively so if Golden State is not into this one it could be ugly.
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Indiana
The Pacers are on a 6 game winning streak but it has hardly been impressive with a couple of wins over Milwaukee and a bunch of other non playoff teams. This game will be much more of a challenge as they gear up for a road trip and try and maintain their slim lead over Miami in the Eastern Conference. No team in their division is chasing them down but this team wants that top spot
Indiana has an amazing 5 players averaging better than 5 rebounds per game including everyone in the starting lineup with the exception of PG George Hill. This team has lots of versatile pieces and just acquired another one from Philadelphia is the form of SG Evan Turner. Turner may never live up to his lofty draft position but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a valuable player. On this team he can just do the things he does best instead of trying to become an elite scorer.
The Pacers are 19-12-1 ATS at home but they haven’t covered their last two home games against Milwaukee and Utah. You could argue at this point of the season that could be as much about lack of interest as anything else. The Warriors coming to town should bring the best out of them .
Spread Pick: Indiana -5.5
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Indiana 107 – Golden State 99
