Two teams on opposite streaks will meet on Wednesday night as the Golden State Warriors host the Boston Celtics. It will be an NBA matchup featuring two of the four top favorites to win the championship this postseason. For the Warriors, it will be a chance to add to their winning streak, while Boston will use this game to try to snap their losing skid. In addition, Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics can use the game as a bit of a measuring stick to see how well they play against the best team in the league this season.
Warriors' win streak
Golden State fans began to quickly panic once their superstar Kevin Durant went down with a leg injury four games ago.
The Warriors went on to drop the game Durant was hurt in against the Washington Wizards, and their next game against the Chicago Bulls. It has fans and analysts wondering if the team was going to be able to maintain their Western Conference lead over the Spurs.
The past two games have been a different story against two Eastern Conference playoff-bound teams. Golden State snapped their losing streak with a win over the New York Knicks this past Sunday and then defeated the Atlanta Hawks on Monday 119-111. Thanks to the recent victories, Golden State still holds a 2-1/2 game lead in the Western Conference over the Spurs, who are hot on their trail with an eight-game winning streak.
Boston's losing streak
The Boston Celtics (40-24) are also a team that is among the top two of their conference and for a while they appeared to be closing in on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the East lead. However, Boston has now dropped back-to-back games and are sitting at three games behind the Cavs.
Both of the Celtics' losses have come on their West coast road trip.
The team fell 109-106 to the Phoenix Suns and then 116-102 to the Los Angeles Clippers. In the most recent loss, Boston held a lead through the first half, but the Clippers went on to outscore them 73-56 in a second half rout.
How to watch & game odds
Tonight's Celtics vs. Warriors matchup is scheduled for a 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time start.
The live game coverage comes from ESPN on television as part of their NBA doubleheader. The WatchESPN website and mobile apps will have live streaming feeds of tonight's game for cable and satellite subscribers to enjoy. SlingTV also offers ESPN on its basic channel streaming package and is available for a free one-week trial for any new customers who sign up.
In terms of a favorite, the home team has nine points in their favor tonight and a moneyline price of -450. The Celtics are nine-point underdogs with a moneyline price of +275, while the over/under is set around 222 points. Boston has an 11-5 ATS record as the underdog team and a 19-14-1 away record against the spread, while Golden State is 31-31-1 ATS as the favorite and 14-14-1 ATS at home.