Warriors vs. Jazz. Thursday, March 10, 2:40pm at the Oracle Arena, Oakland
THERE have been some worrying times for the Golden State Warriors over the past few games. Losing to the Lakers as -18.5 favourites was a big shock and they needed Stephen Curry to score 41 points in order to defeat the lowly Magic a few days later.
Many experts are saying the Warriors wouldn’t win without Curry in their team, but you take the best player out of any team and see how they fare. Curry is $1.01 to win the regular season MVP award and despite shooting poorly against the Lakers, he made up for it last time out.
Curry is the defining player of the NBA and where there’s no value in betting on the Warriors at $1.07 to beat the Jazz ($9.50), there is value in betting on Curry to dominate yet another game.
Sportsbet.com.au have some good markets up involving the best shooter in the game and punters can take full advantage. Take a 4-leg multi bet with Sportsbet and get a 25 percent increase on your winnings.
Steph Curry betting markets – first basket
Steph Curry likes to score quickly and he’s the current favourite to score the first basket of the game. There is no real gameplan for the Warriors to get their bigs involved and if Andrew Bogut controls the tip, expect Curry to run the ball and pull up for a three.
Steph Curry – $6.20 @ Sportsbet.com.au
Gordon Hayward – $6.60
Klay Thompson – $7.10
Derrick Favours – $7.20
Rodney Hood – $7.60
Andrew Bogut – $8.90
Draymond Green – $9.30
Shelvin Mack – $10.40
Rudy Gobert – $10.40
Harrison Barnes – $11.10
Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward has been well supported at $6.60 as their offense runs through him, but Curry looks the best value at $6.20.
We would place a saver bet on Hayward or Draymond Green, but back Curry confidently as he has come through for punters all season.
Alternatively, punters can also bet on which Golden State player will score their first bucket. Curry is the $3.25 favourite at Sportsbet.com.au and although Golden State have a wealth of top shooters, Curry likes to get the ball in his hands and fire up the opening shot.
The first basket exotic market doesn’t end there with bookmakers offering a first basket/winner double option. Punters of Steph Curry and the Warriors can get a slightly better price of $6.75 with the Warriors winning and considered they’re $1.07 to win the game, the extra 50 cents is generous.
Steph Curry player performance bets
The first option bookmakers are offering is the player performance double which, in our opinion, only favours Golden State bettors.
Gordon Hayward 25+ points/Utah win – $15
Derrick Favours 20+ points/Utah win – $15
Klay Thompson 30+ points/Warriors win – $3.10
Steph Curry 35+ points/Warriors win – $2.37
We’re going to discount the first two options because it would be a shock upset for the Jazz to beat the Warriors, let alone having either Hayward score 25 or Favours score 20.
Klay Thompson scores well when Curry has an off night, but after scoring 41 on Orlando, we think Curry comes out firing again. The Jazz defense isn’t great and this game should get into the 100’s, therefore Curry scoring 35 isn’t the worst bet in the world.
A better bet for Klay Thompson punters is the Over 22.5 points ($1.87 at Sportsbet). Curry can still score 35+ if Thompson has 23 points or more and the offense should be rolling between these two.
Curry’s individual total points line is set at 31.5. We think this is a good multi-bet inclusion as the Jazz play weak defense, especially from outside the three point line. Curry has had no problems scoring 32 points or more this season and there’s no reason as to why he can’t top the scorers in this game.
Sportsbet have Curry’s first quarter scoring line at 8.5. This will be a close run thing as Curry effectively needs to knock down at least two three-pointers in the opening stanza. Curry is a better bet to score later in the game when the defense is tired, but it wouldn’t surprise us to see Curry score the first basket and continue that form through the quarter.
As we had hoped, bookmakers are offering a total made three’s option for Curry. He has broken his own record for most three pointers made in a season and he doesn’t look like stopping.
Curry over 5.0 – $1.87
Curry under 5.0 – $1.87
This is another strong multi-bet inclusion as we think Curry will rain three pointers. Making five in one game would be good for any other player, but not for Curry. He expects to make every shot he puts up from behind the line and he’s not shy from taking them.
The number one rule of betting in the NBA this season is to back Curry. You can’t go wrong with that strategy at the moment.
