We were treated to a heck of a series opener this past Sunday as the two flexed their offensive repertoire and lived up to their high-scoring ways. You don’t have to be a fan of either teams to be excited for Game 2.

Catch the game tomorrow, April 18, at 10:00 AM, Manila time.

HOME: Sacramento Kings (1-0)

Projected starting five:

  • De’Aaron Fox
  • Kevin Huerter
  • Harrison Barnes
  • Keegan Murray
  • Domantas Sabonis

With their home crowd going bananas and salivating for a win, the Kings didn’t disappoint. They took the Warriors’ best shots and dished their own, eventually snatching a 126-123 victory. It had to further their confidence moving forward.

The key now is have a better offensive performance from their two All-Stars: De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. While the former showed out by scoring 29 of his 38 points in the second half – in his playoff debut, by the way – the latter was held to 5-for-17 shooting for 12 points and earned a -9 (he did have 16 rebounds and four steals). Sabonis was saved by Fox’s big night, which included sinking clutch threes despite being a 32.1% three-point shooter this season. They can’t expect it to happen every time.

Sixth man Malik Monk also came up huge in his first postseason game with 32 points off-the-bench. We’ll see how well he can build off that. Finally, sharpshooter Kevin Huerter should hope his shots would fall this time as he went 3-for-12 and bricked all of his five attempts from downtown.

Sactown is only 1-4 ATS in its last five games at home. 

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AWAY: Golden State Warriors (0-1)

Projected starting five:

  • Stephen Curry
  • Klay Thompson
  • Andrew Wiggins
  • Draymond Green
  • Kevon Looney

The Warriors’ season-long woes on the road continued in Game 1. It was their 31st loss outside of San Francisco in this 2022-23 campaign. There’s some room for concern, but it’s still a long series.

The good thing is they are complete now. Andrew Wiggins has returned after a two-month absence, and he did so by chipping in 17 points, 12 of which was in the first half. He wasn’t able to finish strong, but it’s a sign that he’s more in rhythm than rusty.

Rhythm is also what the Splash Brothers showcased as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson did their thing with 30 and 21 points, respectively, alongside 11 combined three-pointers. The duo are in for a crucial Game 2, and we should see them be laser-focused to get back a W.

Jordan Poole shot 4-for-10 but ended up with 17 points courtesy of going a 7-for-8 from the charity stripe – a team-high. He ought to be more active tomorrow. As for the bigs in the paint, they’ll look to have bigger control, though Draymond Green and Kevon Looney did have nine boards each, with Dray also posting 11 assists. 

The Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss.

PREDICTION:

Handicap: The Warriors (+1.5) tie the series.

Over/Under: The total goes under 239.5

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