At long last, the NBA playoffs are finally upon us. The first game of the playoffs will be between the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors. The Spurs entered the season with hopes of dethroning the Warriors as Western Conference champions. However, the Spurs have underachieved this season and finished seventh in the Western Conference standings. Their opponents in this contest, the Golden State Warriors, have been extremely solid this season despite dealing with a variety of key injuries throughout the season. As a result, the Warriors were unable to acquire home court advantage throughout the playoffs as the team finished second in the conference standings. However, these is a clear talent discrepancy between these two teams and one can expect to see it on Saturday.
San Antonio’s success is due to its elite defense and bench production. The Spurs, led by star forward Kawhi Leonard, were expected to compete for an NBA championship this season. However, Leonard has only played in nine out of the team’s 82 games this season and the team was still 47-35. One major reason for the team’s ability to win without its best player is its defense. This season, the Spurs tied for first in points allowed per game and have used their stifling defense to win a ton of low scoring contests. The Spurs also are tied for the fourth-highest scoring bench in the NBA and use its tremendous depth to tire out their opponents. If the Spurs plan on winning this contest, expect its bench to play extremely well.
Golden State’s success has been due to its star point guard Stephen Curry and its star forward Kevin Durant. Both players are former MVP award winners and have proven that they are still elite in today’s NBA. This season, Curry was averaging 26.4 points per game along with 6.1 assists per game. Curry’s statistics are even more impressive once one factor in his efficiency from the floor. Curry was shooting an absurd 49.5% from the field and 42.3% from the three-point line. However, Curry has been ruled out for this series against the Spurs due to a knee injury. His absence is huge for the Warriors but they still might have enough firepower to advance past the first round.
Leading the Warriors now is fellow superstar Kevin Durant. This season, Durant was averaging 26.4 points per game along with 6.8 rebounds per game. Similarly to Curry, Durant was also extremely efficient from the floor. He was shooting 51.6% from the field and 41.9% from behind the arc. With Durant still in the lineup along with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors still possess a tremendous amount of weapons despite the absence of the team’s starting point guard.
As for my prediction, I have to side with the Warriors. The Warriors are clearly the better team and should be able to overpower the Spurs. The Spurs have lost three out of four meetings with the Warriors this season and I do not expect the Spurs to be able to handle Golden State’s potent offense the fifth time around.
Spurs vs. Warriors: Game Time, TV Channel & Viewing Details
Event: San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State Warriors
Date: Saturday, April 14, 2018
Start Time: 3:00 P.M. EST
Location: ORACLE Arena in Oakland, CA
Broadcast: ABC
How to Watch Spurs vs. Warriors: Game Time, TV Channel & Viewing Details On Your Tablet Or Mobile Device
You can live stream the game on the ABC app.
You can download the ABC app on Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, and the Windows Store. The ABC app is also available on the following devices: Apple TV, Roku, Android TV and Fire TV.
