Darren Myers
The Warriors are laboring heading into their game with the OKC Thunder on Tuesday at Oracle Arena.
The Thunder have their own issues, coming off a home-loss to the Lakers and generally struggling since Andre Roberson went down with a knee injury.
Get expert analysis plus predictions on the final score for Tuesday’s marquee matchup, as well as straight-up picks for all eight NBA games on tap.
The NBA All-Star break can’t come soon enough for the Thunder (30-24, 11-15 away) and Warriors (41-12, 19-6 home), both of whom are suffering from mid-season malaise.
Golden State has lost two of its last three, and their malaise was especially evident in a shocking 30-point loss to the Jazz in which the Warriors coughed up the ball 20 times and shot just 20-percent from behind the arc.
Head coach Steve Kerr has blamed the recent losses on mental and emotional fatigue.
The Thunder, meanwhile, have lost four straight and are still reeling from the loss of Andre Roberson, who ruptured his patellar tendon on January 27th. The Colorado product was the team’s top perimeter defender and had been a crucial cog on all of OKC’s most efficient lineups.
Roberson has been “replaced” in the starting line-up by Terrance Ferguson, but the spindly 19-year-old rookie has scored just two points in his last five games and has a -1.3 net rating on the season. His lack of experience was painfully obvious in the Thunder’s Friday-night loss to the Pelicans, in which E’Twaun Moore exploded for 26 points.
The good news is that there are no ties in the NBA, so one team has to win tonight. It will likely come down to which squad is more energized and more focused.
Straight-Up Pick: Warriors
Although Golden State may look bored, they’re still the most dangerous team in the league. The Warriors are 19-6 at home this season and give up 3.5 fewer points when playing at Oracle Arena. They’ve also shown an ability to “get up” for the league’s top teams. Steph and co. are 9-3 against Houston, Minnesota, San Antonio, Boston, Toronto, and Cleveland in 2017-18, and have averaged an impressive 114.5 points in those games. Expect the Warriors to show up locked in and ready to play on Tuesday night.
Predicted Score
116-107
Predicted Total
223 points
Predicted Margin
9 points
More Straight-Up Picks (Tues. Feb. 6)
There are seven other games on the NBA’s busy Tuesday-night schedule. Here are our additional straight up picks.
- Cleveland Cavaliers vs Orlando Magic: Cavaliers
- Boston Celtics vs Toronto Raptors: Raptors
- Memphis Grizzlies vs Atlanta Hawks: Hawks
- Houston Rockets vs Brooklyn Nets: Rockets
- Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks: Bucks
- Washington Wizards vs Philadelphia 76ers: 76ers
- Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers
The moneylines, point spreads, and over/unders for all of these games will be available by Tuesday afternoon. You can place a wager by visiting one of these sportsbooks, and you can learn about NBA betting in general by reading our beginner’s guide.
Don’t forget to leave your picks in the comment section, below, or on our Facebook page.
