NBA teams are looking to find their feet again following the all-star break, and the Golden State Warriors will be looking to climb the Western Conference into pole position, ahead of the Houston Rockets. It is usually around this time of year that the Warriors begin to show their superiority over the rest of the NBA, and they will start to do that this weekend when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder, an NBA matchup that you're able to
bet pre-game and in-play at Bovada Sports.
There is little to choose between the Warriors and the Rockets at the top of the table, but eventually, I expect to see the Warriors pull away. It will be interesting to see how long the Rockets can stick with them though, and they look to be the only credible threat to Golden State in the west right now. Slightly below these two, we have a number of teams who are all capable of being the third best team with a good run but could fall to as low as 6th depending on how they finish. The Thunder are one of these teams, they were probably expected to finish 3rd this season, especially with the troubles that the Spurs have been having, although they look just short of that right now.
Prior to the all-star break, both of these two struggled to put a good run of wins together, the Warriors went 6-4 in their ten games before the break, while the Thunder had a losing record of 4-6. Both can do better, both are expected to do better, and both will have been glad of the break to regroup and put together a plan of attack.
By the end of the season, I fully expect to see the Warriors sitting at the top of the western conference, and heading towards another NBA Championship. The Thunder are much more difficult to gauge though, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them in a battle for 4th and 5th with the San Antonio Spurs, both teams have struggled recently, and don’t have anywhere near the same momentum as the Minnesota Timberwolves do.
While the Thunder are a good team, they are not at their best right now, and that is what will cost them having a chance in this game. Golden State are slowly coming to life, and they always excel at this time of year. They can improve throughout February, and take this game comfortably at the weekend.
