Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers Prediction NBA Picks 10/5/24

The Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers meet Saturday in NBA preseason action at the Stan Sheriff Center. Here’s a Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers Prediction. This article will include a Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers Pick.

Golden State Warriors Betting Preview

The Golden State Warriors have missed the playoffs in 3 of the last 5 seasons, and it feels like an end of the era. The Splash Brothers have broken up with Klay Thompson in Dallas, and the Chris Paul experiment is over as well. In come Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, which could possibly be an upgrade based on the hit or miss play from Thompson in recent years. Stephen Curry is still around, and he gives the Warriors a fighting chance when he’s got it going.

For the Warriors to be a factor in the West, Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga have to take steps forward. Draymond Green has to be on his best behavior, and Andrew Wiggins needs to be more of a sidekick than an afterthought. It also wouldn’t hurt to see Gary Payton II healthy. Still, the Warriors feel like a franchise that’s past its prime and is relying on Curry to keep a sinking ship afloat.   

LA Clippers Betting Preview

The LA Clippers won 51 games last season but haven’t won a playoff series since the 2020-21 season. Tyronn Lue enters year 5, and his team made some changes with the departures of Paul George and Russell Westbrook. The Clippers made some sneaky additions of Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum and Kevin Porter Jr., but it’s fair to question if that’s enough.

Kawhi Leonard has to stay healthy for anything to work in La La Land, and there’s pressure on James Harden to get back to his higher scoring ways. With Jones and Terance Mann, these Clippers feel like they could be more scrappy than usual. It comes down to if there’s enough scoring punch.

Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers Prediction

The Warriors and Clippers are veteran teams, so I don’t expect the core players to see much playing time, if at all. That takes us to the second unit and back of the bench players seeing most of the reps. What we do know is the Warriors have won 13 of their last 16 preseason games, making them moneymakers in these meaningless exhibitions. It also looks like Kawhi and Mo Bamba won’t play. The Warriors have some decent youth on the roster and guys who will be eager to earn consistent playing time. I’ll lay the reasonable number with the Clippers.