Three at 3: Who Can Slow Down Golden State?
At 7-2 this week after a perfect 3-0 night on Wednesday, here are Three at 3's plays for Thursday night on the hardwood.
1. Golden State Warriors at Washington Wizards (+9)
8:00 pm ET
The John Wall-less Wizards have gone toe-to-toe with some of the NBA's best teams this month. In chronological order: The Wizards beat the Thunder on the road, split a home-and-home with the 76ers, beat the Bucks by seven and took the Raptors to overtime before losing by two. They've now won two straight with wins over the Knicks and Pistons, and are 7-2 against the spread in 2019.
Washington will get the biggest challenge yet on Thursday when it hosts a Warriors team that is absolutely rolling right now, having won eight straight games (5-2-1 ATS) and outscoring opponents by 18.5 points per game in that stretch. Looking back on Golden State's game log on the road this season, the fact that oddsmakers have the Dubs as such heavy favorites tonight is a grim omen for the Wizards. In the eight road games in which they've been favored by eight or more points, the Warriors are 8-0 straight up and 7-1 ATS, having won by an average of 19.4 PPG in those seven covers. That track record, paired with the fact that Golden State is currently playing its best basketball of the season, makes the Warriors an easy bet in the capital.
Pick: Warriors -9
2. New Orleans Pelicans at Oklahoma City Thunder (-12)
8:00 pm
The Pelicans upset the Thunder 118-114 in Oklahoma City last month (NOP +2.5) and, believe it or not, Anthony Davis played a large role in that victory, finishing with a monster stat line of 44 points and 18 rebounds. Tonight, though, Davis will sit for the third consecutive game with a finger injury, which will obviously put a tremendous dent in a New Orleans lineup that was already notoriously short on depth. While the Pelicans blew out a dismal Grizzlies team in their first game without AD, they lost 98-94 at home last night to a mediocre Detroit one as five-point favorites. Nikola Mirotic left the game in the fourth quarter with a calf injury, and is considered questionable to play against the Thunder. Between the injuries, fatigue and travel, New Orleans could not be in a worse spot on Thursday in OKC.
Pick: Thunder -12
3. Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers (+1)
10:30 pm
Prior to Tuesday, road teams this season playing the second leg of a home-and-home, after having won the first, were 0-9 SU and 2-7 ATS. Tuesday night, Minnesota emphatically bucked that trend with a 118-91 win in Phoenix (MIN -4) to beat the Suns for the second time in three days. It was a sign that the Wolves are locked in under new head coach Ryan Saunders, especially when playing the type of inferior competition against which they'll need to be near-perfect if they want to enter the playoff chase in the West.
Still without LeBron James and recently having lost Lonzo Ball to injury, too, the Lakers fit squarely into that category. Los Angeles is 1-4 both SU and ATS this year as a home underdog—0-3 both SU and ATS since LeBron went down—and posted only 20 assists as a team on Monday in a 130-111 home loss to Golden State (GSW -13.5). Whether or not Rajon Rondo (GTD) plays for the Lakers tonight, this is a team that's awfully short on playmakers right now.
Pick: Timberwolves -1
Overall Record: 111-94-4
