Los Angeles Clippers are a guaranteed lock over the Warriors

The Los Angeles Clippers started the season in the win column with a statement win over the Los Angeles Lakers can do the same against the Golden State Warriors.

The NBA schedule makers really wanted to test the Los Angeles Clippers out early and see exactly where they stand, didn’t they? The Clippers started the year off against the new-look Los Angeles Lakers and walked away with a statement win and now have to take on the best team in the West over the last five years, the Golden State Warriors.

Granted, with Kevin Durant now in Brooklyn and Klay Thompson likely being out for the season, the Warriors are not the same team that they have been. However, they still have Stephen Curry and Draymond Green suiting up as well as new addition D’Angelo Russell.

Either way, this will be a telling game for both parties. The Los Angeles Clippers entered the season with some very high expectations while the Warriors enter the year with lesser expectations.

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A dominant win for the Clippers could be a statement win, showing that they are ready to be the best team in the league this year. However, if the Warriors get the job done, it would show that they are not as far off from the top as we think.

Of course, one game is not indicative of the entire season and the worst team in the league could beat the Clippers on a flukey night. However, based on the positioning of these two teams, I think we will learn a lot.

And it will up being the former rather than the latter: the Clippers will prove that they are ready to be the best team in the league with a dominant win over the Golden State Warriors. A win on Thursday night is a mortal lock.

The Warriors may have the home-court advantage but it won’t matter. The Clippers match up so well against Golden State that it is hard to see Curry and the Warriors doing enough to beat the Clippers.

First and foremost, the Clippers have a defensive unit that is going to shut down the Warriors. Patrick Beverley is going to be a pest to Curry all game and will limit him from having a monstrous game that decides the result.

Curry can absolutely still have a good game, but I doubt he does enough to swing the decision because of Beverley’s impact.

Kawhi Leonard can defend Russell and keep him at bay as well. Throw in Montrezl Harrell in the frontcourt to neutralize anything Green tries to do and it is clear that the Warriors are going to have their hands full in scoring.

As for the Clippers, they just have so much depth that is it hard to see the Warriors stopping them from scoring enough to get the win. If Leonard is locked down by Green then he has a plethora of off-ball scorers that can get the job done.

The bench is going to have a big day with Lou Williams leading the way and potentially even leading this game in scoring. Harrell and Zubac will likely have big games with the lack of size on the Warriors, leading to more second-chance points and more open looks near the rim.

The only way the Warriors can beat this Clippers team is if they barrage them with three-point shots, which is the team’s strength. However, with the presence of Leonard and Beverley, the Warriors are going to have to make a lot of bad shots, which is hard to do, even for them.

According to the Action Network, the Los Angeles Clippers are only one-point favorites in this game.

That feels like the biggest betting lock that I have ever seen in my life, but maybe I am just one of the fools that are buying in too hard. It is just hard to see the Los Angeles Clippers losing to this new-look Warriors team.