NBA 2021/22 on Thursday, 29.12.2021
The Golden State Warriors have now finally usurped the throne of the Western Conference. With another win over the Denver Nuggets, they could even extend their lead over the rest of the field.
However, the personnel situation of the Californians has become even gloomier in the last 24 hours. As if things weren’t bad enough for the Blue and Yellows at the moment, the next regular has now also gone into quarantine…
What the Golden State Warriors managed to do just a few days ago is extraordinary. Because as guests of the outstanding Phoenix Suns – who, by the way, had won 14 NBA home games in a row up to that point – they managed to do the almost impossible.
Of course, a franchise like the Californians, with a record of (24-5), is always an acute danger – but the truth is that the Arizonans were able to draw from a full roster, while the Warriors were without four indispensable key players.
Nevertheless, the second suit of the yellow and blue managed to salvage a 116-107 victory over the finish line in the end. Stephen Curry’s 33 points in particular proved to be the deciding factor in the game!
But the bar will be raised a little higher for the Warriors tonight. For the already existing Corona absences of Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Damion Lee, Moses Moody are now joined by that of Draymond Green.
Without Green, however, the Californians would probably not have won their top game against the Suns – less because of his manageable contribution of just eight points, but rather because of his game-shaping impulses, which resulted in 10 assists.
But as battered as they may be in terms of personnel, their home strength cannot be denied. The Warriors have won fifteen of their last sixteen NBA games in front of their home crowd, which is impressive.
The home dominance of the Warriors has also been felt by the Nuggets, who have not been able to crown any of their last nine outings here with a success within the regular playing time.
However, Golden State has never been as weakened as it was on this occasion. As a point of reference, we can refer to the last meeting between the two franchises, which the Californians won at the beginning of the season.
In the extremely narrow 118-116 victory, however, the yellow and blue really had to give it their all. In addition, three key players – Poole, Wiggins and Green – were in the starting five and will now all be absent from the rematch.
While the Warriors will continue to feature key centre Looney, who can limit the ferocious play of opposing five Jokic in his position, the loss of Green means they now lack even more alternatives going forward.
If the game becomes too dependent on Stephen Curry, Denver has the right tools in Rivers and Morris to set up the best three-point shooter of his generation. So Golden State cannot rely only on long-range shots.
In addition, the guests just visited the Clippers and won thanks to an outstanding Jokic (26 P). Therefore, both a win bet on the Nuggets and a player bet on the Serbian are worth considering tonight.
Overall, however, various bookmakers are confident about the continuation of the Warriors’ strong home trend.
A win for the Californians is currently being traded at odds of around 1.30, while odds of just under 3.00 are being offered for a Nuggets triumph.
Conclusion: If the Warriors can beat a team like the Suns at home with these blowouts, then they inevitably can no longer be considered underdogs in any NBA game.
However, the level of difficulty has been stepped up another level of intensity for tonight. Now Draymond Green, who was essential for the build-up to the game and made the success over the Suns possible in the first place with his many assists, is also absent.
This means that three of the original five starting five members of the Californians, who won a razor-thin victory over the Nuggets just a few months ago, are missing. The Nuggets, on the other hand, are highly motivated after their triumph over the Clippers.
Consequently, in my Warriors Nuggets tip, I assume that the visitors will win!
