Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Odds - May 4th, 9PM EST
As a No. 6 seed the Warriors are the higher seed here and they are at home, but they did take one more game to beat the No. 3 seed than the Lakers took to beat No. 2. While the Warriors were -7.5 favorites in Game 1, that number has dropped to -5.5 for Game 2, indicating that the result in Game 1 tempered expectations of Golden State. All odds provided by Betway.
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Team
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Moneyline
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Point Spread
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Total (O/U)
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Golden State Warriors
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-222
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-5.5 (-115)
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O227.5 (-111)
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Los Angeles Lakers
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+187
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+5.5 (-105)
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U227.5 (-111)
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Golden State Warriors Odds Analysis
The Warriors came into Game 1 on just two days rest while the Lakers came in with four days off before which may have had an impact on the result. Both of these teams are led by players in their 30s, so a rest advantage is a big deal. This year, Golden State has gone 14-8 with a rest advantage and 7-14 with a disadvantage, which is one of the worst in the league.
There’s no rest advantage for Game 2, however, and the Warriors are still at home, where they have the third best record in the NBA during this campaign at 35-10. The worrisome thing is that the Warriors shot the ball really well from behind the arc, dropping in 21 of 53 three point tries, and still lost Game 1.
Golden State has lived and died by the three for years now, and it’s led them to a lot of wins, but with the way Game 1 went, they’ll need to start mixing it up more if they want to get out of the Bay with a split. They were outscored 54-28 in the paint on Tuesday, which is not a recipe for success.
Steph Curry is the best shooter of all-time, but he’s also very crafty when driving to the rim. He needs to be more aggressive in attacking the paint in Game 2, and other guys like Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson need to be better from inside the arc as well.
Kevon Looney is too slow and Draymond Green is too small to guard Anthony Davis, so the Dubs need to focus their defensive energy on making sure no one else gets going for the Lakers. It would also behoove the Warriors to get out and run in transition so as to tire out the hampered 38-year-old LeBron James as well.
Los Angeles Lakers Odds Analysis
The Lakers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the series, going on the road to one of the best home teams in the league and getting the win despite the fact that Golden State was on fire from deep. Los Angeles was outscored by 45 from three-point range, but still found a way to pull out a win here.
The fact that the moneyline and point spread have both been reduced for Game 2 shows that the experts and the public believe in the Lakers a bit more after that Game 1 triumph, and with good reason.
Anthony Davis has been erratic as they come so far in these playoffs, playing up to his potential one game, and putting up an offensive dud in the next. After a 30 and 23 performance on Tuesday night, the Lakers will really be hoping that trend has ended. Los Angeles needed every last point and rebound Davis had, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 30-year-old start to show a bit more consistency deeper in these playoffs.
LeBron James is clearly affected by his foot injury as he was much more of a jump shooter in Game 1 than usual. James has been terrible from long range in these playoffs, so if he’s unable to get back into freight train mode and start driving to the hoop, it could spell trouble.
Both of these teams have championship pedigree, so it’s unlikely that either one dominates the entire series. Expect the pendulum to swing more than a few times over what looks like it could be a seven-gamer. While the Lakers played great in Game 1, it’s hard to imagine the Warriors going to L.A. down 0-2 in the series, which means their reduced moneyline and point spread are offering a lot more value now.
