Golden State hosts Portland in the first game of their best-of-seven series at Oracle Arena on Sunday afternoon. This is the matchup between the Western Conference's highest-seeded and lowest-seeded teams. The Warriors come in humming on all cylinders with Kevin Durant back, and they've lost just one game in the last month (15-1). The Blazers needed an incredible run to break from the rest of the conference for the final playoff spot, and they were able to after going 7-3 in their final 10 games. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM Eastern time and the contest can be viewed on ABC, ESPN3, WatchESPN, and the ESPN app.
Blazers (41-41 overall, 16-25 away, 40-42 ATS)
Portland saw a three-game winning streak come to a close in the regular season finale against New Orleans, losing 103-100. The Blazers had an 85-78 lead after three quarters, but the road team was able to dominate the final period and took the game -- and that was without DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. On the flipside, Portland also didn't have Damian Lillard, Allen Crabbe, and C.J. McCollum on the court.
Lillard (27 ppg, 5.9 apg) and Crabbe (10.7 ppg) are listed as probable despite missing the last two games with a foot issue. McCollum (23 ppg) is questionable with a strained right hand and has also missed the last two games. Jusuf Nurkic is hoping to make a return after missing all of April with a fracture in his leg.
Warriors (67-15 overall, 36-5 home, 40-39-3 ATS)
Golden State was able to rebound after their 14-game winning streak snapped by taking down the LA Lakers 109-94 in the regular season finale. All the starters played limited minutes, but Durant still shined with 29 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists in just 27 minutes of action. He hit 11-of-16 shots while also hitting five 3-pointers.
Stephen Curry also hit five 3-pointers to finish with 20 points and also recorded eight assists to five turnovers.
Matt Barnes (7.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg) will be out for the first game of the series as he continues to recover from an ankle sprain. The frontcourt should still be able to see backup Zaza Pachulia (6.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), who's been dealing with a slight knee injury.
Betting on Blazers and Warriors
Golden State is an expected massive favorite at home. Their line opened up as a 14.5-point favorite and it really hasn't changed since. The total O/U is set at 219.5 points. The Blazers have been 4-0 against the spread following a loss. Both teams are 10-1 ATS when the opponent scores over 100 points in the previous game.
