The Golden State Warriors will rest several players in Wednesday’s game with the Phoenix Suns – making Golden State the right NBA pick.
Phoenix Suns vs. Golden State Warriors
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 – 10:00 PM EDT at Chase Center
It’s going to be another one of those “maintenance days” for the Golden State Warriors. They’ve decided to rest Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Otto Porter Jr. for Wednesday’s matchup with the Phoenix Suns; with Stephen Curry (foot) and Andre Iguodala (back) also on the shelf, the Warriors opened as big 7.5-point home dogs on the NBA odds board before settling down to +7.
As usual, the early money was the sharp money. It’s common wiseguy practice to bet on short-handed teams, expecting to get a bargain price – and these days, the best prices are available as soon as the sportsbooks open. It’s possible the betting public will come in and put so much money on Phoenix that the Dubs will have even longer odds just before tip-off, as the betting public has been known to do. But this might not be one of those times.
Rising Suns
Ideally, if we’re going to lean on these old-school betting pattern theories, we want the team we’re betting on to be as “small-market” as possible, and the team we’re fading to have an enormous international fanbase. That’s not quite the case here. The Warriors (48-28 SU, 36-36-4 ATS) are one of the most popular teams in the world, maybe the most popular. Some of the public money charts on the internet have them pulling in more action than any other NBA team this year.
The Suns (61-14 SU, 42-33 ATS), meanwhile, have a somewhat regional fanbase, narrowed down by all those years of losing after the untimely demise of the Mike D’Antoni-Steve Nash Era. But times have changed. The Monty Williams-Chris Paul Era is in Year Two; it began with a trip to the NBA Finals, and it continues with Phoenix already clinching the top overall seed in this year’s playoffs. Fans are back, and so are bettors, putting the Suns in their NBA picks and lifting them above Golden State on the money charts for March.
Bench Mob
Phoenix will be even more popular now that Paul is back in the lineup, and they’re certainly on a roll since his return, winning back-to-back games by double digits versus the Denver Nuggets (–1.5 at home) and the Philadelphia 76ers (+4 away). But they’re not quite 100 percent just yet. JaVale McGee has been ruled out for this contest with a non-COVID-19 illness, and Cam Johnson (quadriceps) is iffy at best.
These are two quality players the Suns will likely be without. It’s a deep roster, mind you, but it will be Bismack Biyombo who gets most of those backup minutes at center behind Deandre Ayton, and Biyombo has played so-so basketball since his impressive 10-day contract was upgraded. This is where Golden State and their much-improved bench can take advantage of Wednesday night. Bet accordingly.
NBA Pick: Warriors +7 (–110) with DraftKings
