Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/6/2023

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA

Where to watch: BSOK, NBCSBA

DraftKings: Warriors -4.5

FanDuel: Warriors -4.5

BetMGM: Warriors -4.5

Caesars: Warriors -4.5

Thunder: 25-27

Warriors: 27-26

The All-Stars have been announced, the trade deadline is days away, and the NBA season has never seen so much parity and intrigue than it has at this moment. All you need to do is look at the Western Conference and laugh with a hearty burst at how ridiculous this season has been. You know what's not ridiculous? Our champion handicappers continuing to kill it on the NBA level over the last 30 days. All you need to do is take one look at what they're doing and see that this is the place to be as we purge through the second half of the season. Doc's Sports has been tremendous over the last month with a 17-8-0 run and net profit of $8,100. Team Del Genio has also been very good at an 11-6-1 run that has made for some very exciting runs near to the top. Basketball is taking full swing with football about to be set on the back burner, and you want to be locked in at bigal.com. Take advantage of our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what our champion handicappers bring to the table. Make sure you're following winners at bigal.com and get that same kind of money in your pocket.

Thunder: won 153-121 vs. Rockets

Warriors: won 119-113 vs. Mavericks

Well, this matchup suddenly took a turn. And if you’re the young Oklahoma City Thunder, you’re salivating at the thought of continuing their way up the standings knowing they’re going to be facing a Steph Curry-less Golden State Warriors team that is now in freefall with their MVP on the sidelines for multiple weeks.

 

Curry and the Warriors took care of business against the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, but due to Curry’s absence, the Warriors failed to cover in the 119-113 win at Chase Center on Saturday. Curry had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds, but left the game due to a leg injury and now will be out for a lengthy period of time. Klay Thompson was held to just 14 points on 4 of 11 shooting, and Draymond Green had 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

 

“I’m thrilled with the win, but I’m disappointed with the way we closed the game so we’ve got to do better,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

 

“I think when we get down the stretch we stop doing the things that worked,” Draymond Green said. “When you have something that works all game long you don't go away from it.”

 

The Warriors are 27-26 this season and are hanging around in a crowded Western Conference with the defending champions in a mosh-posh of crowded play right now. But without Curry, this team is about to hit a major wall. There’s not much they can do to improve this roster at the trade deadline, honestly, but when the arms race starts to get wider with Kyrie Irving now a member of the aforementioned Mavs, it’s going to make for some interesting next few days.

 

But while the Warriors are over here praying for some luck, the Thunder are continuing to show they may be the future in the West. The Thunder ended a two-game losing streak with an emphatic 153-point outing against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, winning by 32 points. Not that the margin of victory was shocking, but it’s 153 points and that in of itself is wild.

 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again proved that he is worthy of being an All-Star by scoring a game-high 42 points to go with six assists, and Josh Giddey had 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to propel the Thunder to a night of 57 percent shooting. Oklahoma City also went 21 of 46 from 3-point range.

 

“Just (wanted to) be the aggressors,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Play our style, our brand of basketball. I think we got away from that a little bit in Houston, and we just wanted to get back on track.”

 

The Thunder are now 25-27 and right there in the thick of things in the Western Conference. It truly is an amazing time watching this team exceed expectations and start living up to the hype. Wait until Chet Holmgren gets on this team. It’s going to be something exciting to behold.

 

The line favored the Warriors well before the news of Curry being out for an extended amount of time, but the Warriors don’t have the offense outside of an inconsistent Jordan Poole to really lay claim that can get anything done in this game. I need to see the Thunder get their revenge for full-on chaos. Thunder 118, Warriors 106

Thunder are 26-12 ATS as an underdog this season.

Thunder are 10-3 ATS as a road underdog of 6 points or less.

Warriors are 12-10 ATS as a home favorite this season.

PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

SG: Josh Giddey

SF: Aaron Wiggins

PF: Jalen Williams

C: Mike Muscala

PG: Ty Jerome

SG: Klay Thompson

SF: Andrew Wiggins

PF: Draymond Green

C: Kevon Looney

Injury report

Thunder: Lu Dort (hamstring, out), Chet Holmgren (foot, out)

Warriors: Steph Curry (leg, out)

Points: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander -- 31.0

Rebounds: Josh Giddey -- 8.0

Assists: Josh Giddey -- 5.9

Points: Steph Curry -- 29.4

Rebounds: Kevon Looney -- 8.6

Assists: Draymond Green -- 6.9