Stephen Curry, Warriors will get Thunder’s best shot
A team with few weaknesses, the Golden State Warriors do have at least two, and those would be Stephen Curry’s right ankle and right knee. Curry’s history of injuries remains a concern.
In the NBA playoffs, there’s not much time to rest, and it’s tough to run and gun on a bad wheel. But after four days off, Curry appears ready to roll.
The Warriors should be more worried about Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and an Oklahoma City team playing with house money and no fear heading into the Western Conference finals. The series starts Monday, and when it shakes out, the Thunder probably will go down, but it’s not going to happen quietly.
“The Warriors are going to have a tougher go at it the rest of the way. I don’t expect them just to walk through it,” Westgate sports book manager Jeff Sherman said. “I think the Thunder can definitely hang around with them.”
Many of the bettors who rode shotgun with the Warriors all season are starting to second-guess the 73-win defending champions. Golden State opened as a minus-420 series favorite over Oklahoma City, and the price was raised to minus-550 before Sherman lowered it to minus-380 Sunday night.
“Now, everyone is betting the Thunder,” Sherman said. “I think a lot of people are respecting their win against San Antonio.”
And the Thunder deserve the hard-earned recognition after stunning the Spurs and everyone else. Durant and Westbrook will arrive in Oakland overflowing with confidence and the knowledge they possess rare athletic ability that presents matchup problems for the Warriors.
It should be noted the Thunder are no longer two superstars and a bunch of anonymous role players. The players in supporting roles now have names everyone knows — 7-foot Steven Adams, 6-foot-10-inch Serge Ibaka, 6-11 Enes Kanter and shooting guards Andre Roberson and Dion Waiters.
Oklahoma City is big and strong in the paint, and Billy Donovan, a first-year NBA coach who was thought to be a weakness, just took down Gregg Popovich.
“I wouldn’t say Donovan shut up his critics,” Las Vegas handicapper Chuck Edel said, “but he got the job done.”
Durant and Westbrook did most of the work. The Thunder offense, too reliant on isolation plays with Durant in recent seasons, has more flow to it now, and maybe Donovan gets some credit for that. Oklahoma City is displaying the type of impressive ball movement on the offensive end that San Antonio showed two years ago. Donovan’s team is different and more dangerous than the version that had gone stale under former coach Scott Brooks.
The Thunder-Warriors series is expected to excite the betting public because it’s a matchup featuring big-time stars and offensive firepower. The total is 224 in Game 1, and Sherman said he’s siding with Oklahoma City as a 7½-point underdog.
Edel (SportsXradio.com) said he bet the Thunder to win the West at 10-1 odds on April 24, the day Curry went down with a knee injury against Houston. Curry was returning from an ankle injury earlier in that series. Portland pushed Golden State to five games in the semifinal round, with Curry coming back to score a total of 69 points in the final two games.
“I just took a shot,” Edel said. “The only reason I made the bet was the possibility of Curry’s injury being worse.”
Curry, the league’s scoring and steals leader who crushed the record for 3-pointers made in the regular season with 402, was unanimously voted Most Valuable Player. It’s difficult to define which player is most valuable — and I also would vote for Curry — but it’s beyond debate that he’s the world’s most entertaining player.
Golden State is 8-2 straight up and 7-3 against the spread in the playoffs even with the MVP missing time, but the Warriors probably would not advance past Oklahoma City or defeat Cleveland in a Finals rematch without him.
Assuming Curry is healthy, I’ll pick Golden State to win the West finals in six or seven mostly competitive games.
Edel agreed, saying, “Oklahoma City has a reputation for not being able to close out games. Golden State is just the opposite and closes everything.”
Captain Obvious could pick the East, which will be won by LeBron James and the Cavaliers in four or five games. Cleveland should have few problems with Toronto, which blasted the injury-ravaged Miami Heat 116-89 on Sunday in Game 7. NBA home teams are 9-1 in the past 10 Game 7s.
“I can’t imagine a scenario where the Raptors would beat the Cavs four out of seven unless LeBron is hurt,” Sherman said. “I just don’t see it.
“Going way back to the end of 2015, we said there were 3½ teams that could win it, and Oklahoma City was the half.”
With the Spurs eliminated from the equation, the Thunder are halfway to rewriting a wild script in the West.
■ BOTTOM LINES — Jason Day (10-1 odds) went wire to wire to win The Players Championship on Sunday. Sherman reacted by adjusting odds on the U.S. Open, the year’s second golf major set for mid-June, and making Day the 7-1 favorite ahead of Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth at 8-1.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247
