NBA weekend tips: without Curry, Warriors need to wake up fast

It's another awesome weekend of basketball action, and with the NBA playoffs fast approaching, there are plenty of key games with some great betting opportunities.

Golden State Warriors @ Atlanta Hawks

Friday 25 March, 11.30pm 

Will the Warriors of old please step forward? Running out of time to recapture their prime as the NBA playoffs near, Golden State lack two critical assets: momentum – and health.

Just four wins from their last 12 games have dropped the Dubs into third seed in the Western Conference - it’s no wonder the markets give Steve Kerr’s crew a mere 12% chance of regaining the NBA Championship. 

And although Wednesday’s win in Miami brought a reprieve, Friday night’s visit to Atlanta will be another tough call with the Hawks 23-14 at home and fighting for their lives to make a late run at a guaranteed post-season spot. 

Steph Curry has been sidelined with a foot injury since March 16 and since then, his team has been the lowest scorers in the whole league with 101 points per night, a whopping ten below their average. They are also a -9.5 on points differential since that date and the former MVP is likely to be out for another ten days at least. 

Time together for their Big Three has been spartan. Since Klay Thompson ended his long-term absence, he, Curry and Draymond Green have logged just 11 minutes together. They have ample past chemistry but memories fade.

Atlanta are 7-5 over their last 12, putting up 116.1 points per game on a net differential of exactly zero. That despite an injury to John Collins which has hurt them offensively.

The Warriors were 9-1 when they beat the Hawks 127-113 in November behind 50 and 10 from Curry. Yet the hosts are 1.75 to take revenge and look very capable of casting more shade on the one-time favourites. 

Recommended bet: go over 220.5 points @ 1.94

The Pelicans and Spurs could still make a late run to KO the fading Lakers

San Antonio Spurs @ New Orleans Pelicans

Saturday 26 March, 9pm, Sky Sports Arena 

In times gone by, a late-March meeting of the current ninth and 11^th seeds in the West – each adrift from the side in number eight – would have been lobbed into the box marked ‘Damp Squibs’.

Courtesy of the Play-in battle, this one carries ample significant with the Pelicans just two games ahead of the Spurs with both, unfathomably, with opportunities to KO the Los Angeles Lakers with the merest surge. 

Fighting for it too, with the Spurs winning three out of four in a particularly benign schedule stretch and the Pelicans victorious in four out of six including a 124-91 beatdown of San Antonio a week ago.

That was predicated almost entirely on a 35-10 opening quarter from the Pels who have spent most of the year awaiting the re-emergence of Zion Williamson but with, still, no firm word. 

They’ve raised their scoring average by a formidable eleven points over their last 13 outings. And they have a golden chance to keep climbing with seven straight games against the West’s sub-.500 club. 

The Spurs have three against that grouping but otherwise face a rough route to make the top ten. Losing in New Orleans is a knock they simply don’t need.

Recommended bet: take New Orleans on a -5 handicap 

New York Knicks @ Detroit Pistons

Sunday 27 March, 8:15pm, Sky Sports Arena

Detroit's playoff-less campaign is already guaranteed. New York is surely not far behind. Although to the credit of both, they are going down fighting with both victorious in three of their last five heading into the weekend. 

If the Knicks had matched their March form, this might not be a lost cause. 6-6 to begin the month on a +6.1 differential, a lack of consistent playmaking has done them down. Dead last in assists in the NBA, their offense has been horrible too frequently.

But they should have enough to edge out the Pistons – even though it’s worth a bet under 215 points. 

Recommended bet: New York on a -3 handicap

Recommended bets

Over 220.5 points in Golden State/Atlanta @ 1.94

New Orleans with -5 handicap 

New York with -3 handicap