NBA: Golden State Warriors vs. Philadelphia 76ers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Golden State Warriors are traveling to the City of Brotherly Love to face the shaky Philadelphia 76ers. Currently, Steph Curry and the boys are tied atop of the West (and the NBA) with the Phoenix Suns, and each win is worth gold in this top-seed race. Meanwhile, the 76ers are trying to get rid of Ben Simmons, who still isn’t willing to play for them, and over the past few days, the trade talks involving the former top pick are intensified. What will happen with the Aussie? To be perfectly honest, we don’t know. Hell, he might end up in the Warriors after everything. They were after the creative point guard this summer.

Preview

Golden State Warriors (21-4, -135) are coming off back-to-back wins against the Magic and the Blazers, both at their Chase Center. In each of those events, the Dub Nation limited the rivals to under 100 points and presented an excellent defense.

Meanwhile, the offense wasn’t at the top level, but it did provide enough for two comfortable victories. GSW won against the Blazers, 104-94, while shooting 39.8% and hitting 14 threes in 46 tries which is below the usual percentage Warriors have.

Yet, Steve Kerr’s unit wasn’t behind throughout all 48 minutes, confidently holding the lead and pushing back the Blazers’ surges. Jordan Poole scored 20 points, Otto Porter Jr. 15, and Andrew Wiggins 14. Steph Curry dropped six threes for 22 buckets, outplaying the short-handed Trail Blazers who were without McCollum and Lillard.

Philadelphia 76ers (14-12, +120) had a very exhausting road stretch, which ended successfully. The fans were hoping to see their favorites refreshed upon coming home, but instead, they would suffer a pretty tough defeat against the Utah Jazz, 118-96.

The team from Salt Lake City proved to be a massive enigma for the 76ers, who had one of the worst shooting nights from downtown this year. Philly scored only 6 shots in 33 attempts, while on the other side, the Jazz hit 15 threes. They were also heavily outrebounded, having 18 boards fewer than the rival, 34-52.

Joel Embiid was helpless against Gobert, scoring only 19 points with nine boards while allowing the French international to have 21 rebounds. The Process isn’t playing as during the previous season, and his health is slowly becoming a huge problem for the 76ers. Seth Curry added 18 buckets, Tobias Harris 17, while Tyrese Maxey couldn’t get it going, ending the night with 11 points in 26 minutes on the floor.

Head to Head

The Warriors hosted the 76ers at Chase Center three weeks ago, and they routinely won, 116-96. The Curry brothers had a showdown, with Steph scoring 25 and Seth one point fewer. It was interesting to see them compete. Maxey added 19 for the guests, while Wiggins and Pool scored 19 and 17, respectively.

Prediction

The Warriors are the absolute favorites here, and the odds given on their win are superb from our point of view. We haven’t seen a victory on GSW profitable this much for a long time. Therefore we suggest reacting fast and grabbing this offer while still on the table.

Pick: Warriors win -135